Royal Oak Farmers Market freshens up

The Royal Oak Farmers Market 12-year transformation is nearly complete.

Excerpt:

With Tuesday's removal of its aging kitchen, the Royal Oak Farmers Market will soon finish a 12-year transformation.

"It looks like the Oklahoma Dust Bowl," Market Master Gwen Ross exclaimed, as a wrecking crew worked.

By January, the spot is to gleam with new stainless steel, ready for caterers and as many as 700 guests. That will complete the change from a grimy 1927 barn to a multipurpose facility that holds almost as many weddings and trade shows as bins of broccoli and potatoes.
For a decade, Ross said to anyone who'd listen: "This kitchen is a nightmare." But other fix-ups had to come first.

"The lavatories were terrible," the roof leaked in seven spots and the building was a fire trap in 1997 when the City of Royal Oak bought out Oakland County's interest, said John Wendland, 75, who grew up next door and is the market's historian.

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