"A Gem in the Crown"

- By Ron Redmond, Executive Director, Church Street Marketplace

It began as a one-day experiment. It blossomed into one of the most successful and widely emulated urban pedestrian malls in the country.

The Church Street Marketplace has been called “the gem in the crown” of Burlington. Opened in 1981, and framed by two historic districts listed in the National Register, this four-block jewel in the heart of the city will soon celebrate its Emerald Anniversary, marking 20 years as a nationwide role model for downtown development.

While its roots stretch back to urban renewal discussions of the 1950s and 1960s, the present-day Marketplace began to crystallize in the city’s imagination on a sunny July day in 1970. More than 15,000 people took part in a one-day street fair sponsored by the Burlington Downtown Merchant’s Association, an event designed to demonstrate the feasibility of a mid-city pedestrian mall – a concept which went on to gain favor among business and community leaders in Burlington.

Heartened by the experiment’s success and the excitement it generated within the community, merchants reconvened the next year to stage a more expansive, week-long midsummer fair. Traffic was rerouted from the four blocks of Church Street to parallel streets, and additional public transit to the downtown core was provided. Short-term physical enhancements were added to the street, including trees, benches, and vendor booths. Throughout the week, merchants were allowed full use of the area for outdoor retail displays and many special events were planned.

The result: an estimated 50,000 people visited the reinvigorated Church Street that week. The impressive turnout was a catalyst that sparked more extensive, community-wide deliberations aimed at establishing a permanent Church Street Marketplace. It would take another decade of dialogue and collaboration among the business community, city government, local residents, and state and federal leaders to bring to life the vibrant vision nurtured during those balmy summer days of 1971 and 1972.

Today, nearly 20 years after its completion in September 1981, that vision is an exciting reality, and has become a touchstone for downtown redevelopment nationwide. The Marketplace draws 3 million visitors to downtown Burlington each year, fueling the city’s economic engine and effectively meeting the challenge of suburban “sprawl” – a phenomenon that here, as elsewhere, threatens to damage, perhaps irreparably, both our precious natural environment and the vitality and livability of our downtown centers.

The Church Street Marketplace is more than just the brilliant gem in the crown of the Queen City. It is the red carpet Burlington spreads before its visitors. For those who live in the area, it is a bustling urban gathering place, where we greet, entertain, and meet the needs of friends, neighbors, and tourists alike. Like any fine jewel or elegant entryway, it needs to be nurtured and polished to ensure its sparkle for many years to come.

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