Reopening Is Aug. 25 In Temporary Shelter

Vendors displaced by the springtime fire that destroyed historic Eastern Market will reopen for business Aug. 25 in a temporary shelter, city officials said yesterday.

The city had hoped that the concrete and steel structure, erected in a school parking lot across from Eastern Market in Capitol Hill, would be open by this week. But the opening was delayed by the need to order refrigeration equipment for food merchants.

Fifteen refrigeration cases still wrapped in plastic were visible yesterday during a news conference at the building. The plain white structure, which has the feel of a greenhouse inside, is in stark contrast to Eastern Market's architecture, with its ornate windows and red brick.

Nicky Cymrot, president of the nonprofit Capitol Hill Community Foundation, said in an interview that the nondescript temporary building will display banners for each of the 14 vendors to give it some character.

"I think it's spectacular," she said. "It's going to be festive, bright and cheerful. People are going to love it."

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said the city spent $2.6 million to build and equip the structure -- dollars that are separate from the $14 million cost of restoring and improving Eastern Market. The restoration is projected to take 18 to 24 months.

The temporary shelter is expected to be moved elsewhere after the Eastern Market restoration is completed, Fenty said, but he and other officials provided few details.

"Have we talked about what we're going to do with this magnificent temporary structure?" Fenty asked at the news conference, looking to his staff. "We haven't gotten that far yet."

The mayor defended the cost of the temporary setup as reasonable because Eastern Market, which was built in 1873, draws customers from all over the city.

"Eastern Market is a building, it's a market and it's a neighborhood," he said. "It really belongs to the whole city."

D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) said an outpouring of support for the market has continued since the April 30 fire ruined the South Hall and its roof. "Few things have galvanized the community more than the threat to our historic treasure," he said.

The Capitol Hill Community Foundation has raised about $400,000, and Home Depot, which contacted the city with an offer to help the vendors, has provided $30,000 in gift cards so vendors can buy cleaning supplies that they lost in the fire, Cymrot said.

Each of the 14 vendors will receive a $2,000 gift card to spend at the store, Cymrot said. Eastern Market Pottery, a vendor that was not inside South Hall but was displaced by the fire, also will receive a gift card, Cymrot said.

The merchants, several of whom have operated outside, are eager to return to some normalcy, Cymrot said. A few merchants, particularly those who sold perishable meats and seafood, have not been able to operate.

"This has been a difficult transition for them," Cymrot said.