The Ocala Farm Market’s days using the lot next to the city square are numbered. In a few months the Saturday morning event will be relocated as the city makes way for an upscale hotel that will help anchor a revitalized downtown.
The move, which could come as early as the spring, would be the third since the craft and food market began in 2011. It was first held in the square, then moved to the McPherson Governmental Complex on Southeast 25th Avenue for one year, and now sets up portable tents at its current location.
But as soon as the Ocala City Council approved hotelier Danny Gaekwad’s proposal to build a six-story hotel where the market is, orders to move were inevitable.