After a devastating fire, Fenty vows to rebuild Eastern Market

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Mayor Adrian Fenty vowed to rebuild the historic Eastern Market, but said he wasn’t sure where the District of Columbia would find the millions of dollars needed for the work.

Standing outside the blackened and gutted Capitol Hill landmark on Tuesday morning, Fenty pledged to return the 134-year-old red-bricked market “to its architectural and historical splendor.” He promised to reopen the building and allow merchants to move back in within 18 to 24 months.

“The fire at Eastern Market did not just affect the surrounding neighborhood of Capitol Hill,” Fenty said. “Residents from around the city are feeling a sense of loss about this cultural and historic marketplace.”

Fenty said his administration identified ways to pay for the renovation of the city-owned structure, which an early morning fire gutted on Monday. Estimates ranged between $20 million and $30 million, he said.

District-owned buildings are not insured.

The mayor said some money could come from a surplus in the tax revenue that the city collected last year. He said he also wanted to spend the surplus to help pay for the Georgetown Public Library, which burned in a separate fire Monday afternoon.

Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi is scheduled to certify the revenue estimates on May 15.

But Gandhi’s office told The Examiner on Tuesday it has not projected any additional revenue.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is seeking federal aid to rebuild the market and Sen. John Kerry has pledged his support. Capitol Hill activists have launched a fundraising effort.

Fenty suspended rent for merchants and said his office would begin meeting with the 13 vendors this week to find ways to keep them afloat.

The outdoor portion will remain open this weekend and the city is considering temporary locations for the displaced vendors.

Some of them watched Tuesday morning as work crews began boarding up shattered windows. Mike Bowers, co-owner of Bower’s Fancy Dairy Products, said he thinks business owners could return to the building within nine months to a year.

“I think right now the mayor is being cautious,” Bowers said.

Fire officials determined that the cause of the blaze was electrical.

Because of its age, the market did not have a sprinkler system, nor was it required to have one, D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said. He said there was a 98 percent likelihood that sprinklers could have contained the fire.

smccabe@dcexaminer.com

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com

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