WATERVILLE — The Downtown Waterville Winter Farmers’ Market is opening Thursday at its new location in MaineGeneral Thayer Center for Health on North Street after one year downtown.

The move away from the market’s 2014-15 location at The Center on Main Street was driven by a need for more parking and the farmers market’s relationship with the hospital, said Deb Vermette, a farmer from St. Albans who is helping organize the market.

Naomi York, of Oakland, finds some color at the Waterville Farmer’s Market in September 2014. The market is moving indoors for the winter to the MaineGeneral Thayer Center for Health on North Street, a new location after there were issues with its winter location last year in The Center downtown. Staff file photo by Michael G. Seamans

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“We’re hoping that we have loyal customers that will follow us wherever we go for the winter,” she said.

The twice-monthly market will be held on the first and third Thursday of the month from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Dean conference room in the hospital.

The winter market goes from early December until late April. In May, it moves back to its summer location at the Concourse parking lot off Main and Appleton streets.

There will be at least 10 vendors at the market selling products such as meat and eggs, root vegetables and apples, bread, baked goods and prepared meals. Although fewer vendors attend the winter market than the summer market, there is still plenty of fresh, local food available, Vermette said.

Some farmers have turned to growing leafy greens and other vegetables in greenhouses or with hydroponic systems, which allow them to grow plants all year long, she added.

“We just want to make sure people have access to local fresh food all winter long,” Vermette said.

The winter market was held for the first time last year in a conference room in the basement of The Center on Main Street. Although the location was downtown, it wasn’t ideal, Vermette said. Parking was an issue for customers, and vendors had a hard time getting their goods into the space.

The downtown market is a member of Waterville Main Street, and moving presented a dilemma for organizers, Vermette said.

“We had to look at accessibility for customers as well as for ourselves,” she added.

Although the new location is outside Waterville’s downtown, Vermette said the change shouldn’t affect the number of customers shopping at the market.

In fact, organizers are hopeful that the market’s new proximity to Colby College and the Alfond Youth Center, as well as the large hospital staff, will help make it successful.

“We’re hoping to draw from the many employees that work at MaineGeneral that might not have the opportunity to swoop downtown” to go to the market, Vermette said. Parking on Main Street was also an issue, because many shoppers had to park their vehicles across the street at the Concourse and walk over, she said.

The Downtown Waterville Market has a long-standing partnership with MaineGeneral, and the hospital has provided financial support for the market, according to Vermette.

Winter markets have opened across central and western Maine in recent weeks, including in Farmington and Skowhegan. According to the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets, there are approximately 30 winter markets held in the state.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire

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