LAWTON – Lawton Farmers Market buzzed with activity Saturday morning as people roamed the building, seeing what vendors had to offer.
Blue’s Bake House owner and baker Sky McWhorter watched the crowd from her booth, where she was selling colorful macaroons and frosted cupcakes.
McWhorter, who started selling baked goods at the Farmers Market when it was still based at Cameron University, said she was pleased with the market’s new building.
“It’s more open,” she said. “More space, plus I get to interact with other vendors.”
Saturday marked the market’s official first day in its permanent home at 77 SW Fourth St. in downtown Lawton. (A soft opening took place Feb. 5.) The first day of operations came one day after the Lawton Farmers Market Institute, a nonprofit organization which runs the building, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house.
LFMI members have dreamed of building a permanent home for the farmers market since it launched more than 12 years ago, LFMI President Ed Legako said in a Feb. 11 interview. The goal: Constructing a building which would allow the market to sell sustainable local products all year long.
“Chickens lay eggs 12 months out of the year,” he said. “We now have some changes in the Oklahoma laws that have allowed us to sell baked goods out of our home, canned goods, so we’re now able to add local products to what people can find at markets.
“And those are available year-round. So, we needed a facility that’s not dependent on the weather.”
The city, which owned some land in the downtown area that was not being used, teamed up with LFMI on the project, Legako said. He said city officials agreed with the concept and the plan and provided some financial assistance for outdoor concrete and the building.
LFMI broke ground on the $3 million building, which was primarily financed by private donations, in November 2020. Nearly 15 months later, the building was ready to open for business.
In the future, LFMI hopes to raise enough funds to allow the organization to make the building available for nonprofit organizations to use at a low cost, Legako said. The facility is also designed to accommodate various events, including nonprofit events and weddings.
“We want to have an events center that’s located in the central area of Lawton,” he said. “Because we have an east and we have a west, but we need that central area. So, this gives us that ability to have an events center.”