The sweltering heat and muggy weather did not stop thousands of people from attending Green Street’s grand opening last weekend in downtown Lee’s Summit.
The weekend was packed with activities and offered a prelude to the type of events the new public space will offer regularly. The big debut launched with a block party and ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday. Saturday featured a farmers market, live music, street performers and kids’ activities. Sunday was dedicated to wellness: yoga, mini-golf and other games.
Green Street is downtown Lee’s Summit’s new community space – featuring an inclusive playground, stage, public art and an indoor-outdoor farmers market. Jeff Beckner of Beckner’s Orchard said it has been wonderful to see the community come out and support the new market in huge numbers. “When we were in the other location, we would be really busy for about an hour and a half, and it’s been that way the entire time we’ve been here,” Beckner said. “There’s not been any rest today.”
The event has been highly anticipated by the community including Karen Houk, co-founder of nonprofit Alyssa’s Wishes, who said the city has been planning the Green Street addition for over 10 years. “It’s just literally the center of our town,” Houk said. “So now it’s not only geographically the center of our town, but it’s given us a space to celebrate the center of our town.” The 17,000-square-foot indoor market pavilion can host up to 100 vendors and extend the farmers market season into colder months.
So even with the sweltering heat Saturday, there was plenty of indoor space and shaded areas for people to stay cool. Patrons and vendors alike packed the indoor air conditioned space of the market, which also offers indoor restrooms.
“We really appreciate that,” said Tyler Birk, Lee’s Summit resident and owner of Birk’s Coffee Company. “Then we have the beautiful area outside to eat your food (and) enjoy your breakfast that you bought at the farmers market.”
City officials said they incorporated a lot of community input to make Green Street a reality. One of those officials is Jenny Gale, the assistant director of Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street. She helped plan the new Green Street Market, and said it is truly a testament to the city’s continued growth. “I am most excited about watching our farmers and small businesses grow,” Gale said. “I’ve been running the farmers market for three years. I was a vendor before, so I’ve been able to see kind of both sides of that.”
The Green Street addition will offer much more than just the biweekly farmers market. Gale said the city will host kids’ activities, movie nights, live music and food trucks at the space. “It is also open as a private event space,” Gale said. “You can contact the Green Street staff, and they will get you hooked up with all the pricing and things like that to rent that out for a private event in the fall.”
Beyond produce, other offerings also include kombucha, spices, jewelry and flower assortments.
“Just come out and visit us, even though it’s back to school time,” Beckner said. “We’re still picking summer produce and we’re going to have a lot of it.”
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