Cedar Street Bridge launching public market

SANDPOINT — We all know of the Cedar Street Bridge and how beautifully open it is, and what a great locale for enjoying the spectacular setting we call home, said Sandpoint Farmers Market director Patty Fulton.

Now, the owners have extended special invitations to local artisans and farmers for an opportunity to share their goods in an open market, similar to that of Pikes Place Open Market and those trending around the country, she said.

Starting Saturday, Nov. 26, the Bridge will host a grand opening of the Cedar Street Bridge Public Market.

“Cedar Street Bridge Public Market offers the perfect indoor space and ambiance to compliment the already well-established restaurants, craft and art studios, specialty shops and soon-to-be wine store and coffee roaster as a part of ‘The Bistro,’ ” she said. “We are welcoming vendors to share in the outstanding lively communal backdrop for the public and locals to come in and out of the cold this winter.”

The Saturday public market will host an array of vendors, including farmers, crafter and food vendors. CSB Treasurers, an onsite consignment shop, will be opening on Saturday, Nov. 19, and the bridge will host a variety of unique and artfully crafted artisan collections.

The Bridge already pulls in thousands of people seasonally and it’s the hope to create a communal space for everyone whether it be strolling the shops, come in and enjoy an exclusive variety of vendors, share a latté, have a great meal, or experience art at Creations, Fulton said.

“The Bridge,” as locals call it, has a valuable history. Built prior to the 1930s as an auto and pedestrian bridge, the original Cedar Street Bridge was designed to carry traffic from the downtown core to the town’s train depot on the east bank of Sand Creek, Fulton said.

Spanning 400 feet across Sand Creek in downtown Sandpoint, the Cedar Street Bridge Public Market is heralded as the only marketplace on a bridge in the United States.

To share a little more history one has to go all the way back to the late 1970s, said Fulton, when the bridge fell into disuse and was blocked off to both pedestrian and motor traffic due to structural damage and gaping holes in its surface.

In the early 1980s, as city officials debate whether to tear down the derelict bridge, Scott Glickenhaus, a local entrepreneur and world traveler, approached the city with his plans to create a unique public gathering place. His idea, inspired by the Ponte Vecchio, is to create a marketplace-on-a-bridge with a distinctive Northwest flair. After some dispute about the lease agreement for use of the derelict bridge, Glickenhaus began construction of a new public market. By 1983, the work was done and the bridge opened with an assortment of stores. Today, the building’s owners are continuing the tradition of ecclectic stores and community flair by inviting the market to help create a local public market on the Cedar Street Bridge.