Say bye-bye to Chapala’s Mercado de Artesanias, a crumbling landmark located across the road from the town’s Acapulquito seafood restaurant row. Demolition of the 35-year old structure got under way Tuesday, January 5. The plan is for the building to be totally razed by the middle of the month.
While city hall has left the public and press in the dark concerning details of what will follow, workmen at the site say the land is being leveled to create a parking area in time for the Carnival festivities that kick off on January 29. The fate of 65 mature trees that dot the exterior area also remains a mystery.
In the meantime, the half-dozen vendors who were still working on the premises have moved into a string of portable booths installed along the sidewalk on the far side of the street to hawk clothing, souvenir trinkets and shell fish munchies. Most seem to be optimistic that greater visibility with help them draw more customers, though they are less certain about where they will end up once the dust settles.
Their former business home has a checkered history. Inaugurated in 1981, the market was built as quarters for local merchants to replace the brick and mortar units torn down in a distant renovation of the Malecón carried out by late mayor Mario Rosales Anaya.
The facility never attracted a bustling tourist trade. In ensuing years, vendors were allowed to drift back to the waterfront and gradually take over the area with makeshift stalls. The market became increasingly abandoned, falling into rack and ruin.
Merchants were relocated again after former mayor Arturo Gutierrez (2004-2006) championed the construction of new sales modules bordering Paseo Ramón Corona to clear front line lake views.
Since then, the vendors have divided into factions, becoming constantly at odds with one another, local politicians trying to curry their favor and city officials who have attempted to impose order and encourage greater harmony.
A subsequent renewal project proposed by Joaquín Huerta (2012-2015) sought a fresh design for vendor units. But the plan was ditched due to resistance by some vendor cliques and bureaucratic snags with the National Water Commission.
Current Mayor Javier Degollado has not revealed his strategy to heal the bad blood and upgrade the commercial zone to fit in with his plan for Chapala to achieve Pueblo Mágico status.