The market is a popular tourist attraction, however, one cannot fail to notice that the number of traders in the market is wanin, so changes are planned. But what are the future development plans of the market?
Rīga Central Market is managed by the company "Rīgas nami". Its board member Marcis Budlevskis said that from 2023 until now, less than 810,000 euros have been invested in the maintenance of pavilions and other buildings, while the amount of planned investments will reach 1.9 million euros by the end of 2025.
"At the moment, the Gastronomy Pavilion is in the best condition, its structures were strengthened several years ago. At the moment, the roof of the Vegetable Pavilion, whose roof burned down, has been replaced. We are ready to start strengthening the structures in the Vegetable Pavilion this November. The Dairy Pavilion will be the next in line, because there has been no investment in many of those pavilions since their initial construction," said Budlevskis.
The central market has five pavilions - Dairy, Meat, Fish, Vegetables and Gastronomy. In August of this year, a Central Market development concept was presented, and the biggest discussions were about the further development of the Meat Pavilion.
"That building is in the worst condition. It is charming in its scope and size. We have offered to consider this building as a version for the Museum of Contemporary Art. It is possible to exhibit installations of any size there," revealed Budlevskis.
All five pavilions in the Central Market will not be needed in future because of changes in how traders are doing business.
Budlevskis stated: "With the volume we have now, we can see that we can put this content in four quality pavilions. It's not that we're losing merchants, they're just becoming more compact."
In addition, about 300 parking spaces – which have long been in short supply around the market – will be built next year in another area, where demolition works are currently underway.
Una Meiberga, the manager of Kalnciems quarter and Ågenskalns market development projects which have breathed new life into run-down markets on the other side of the River Daugava, said that she recently participated in an international market conference in Toronto, Canada, and that the concept of a market in the world is broader than just a trading place.
"It is a place to meet and where new content is created on the most diverse levels – economic, social, cultural, and so on. However, it is very important that the markets are still markets, that they are not some kind of entertainment centers or variations of supermarkets. Maybe one of the markets is multifunctional, but there should also be farmers' markets in the whole city, where local, seasonal food is purchased. And that would be our unique value if we would support small farmers more... we would like to more actively support small farmers," Meiberga said.
The Central Market development concept foresees that the municipality will invest 14 million euros in building repairs and cosmetic upgrades to the territory, another 14 million in the modernization of the "Rīgas nami" pavilions and the renovation of the adjacent "Spikeri" brick buildings, while the adaptation of the Meat Pavilion to artistic and cultural functions could cost 16 million euros.
