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The streets emanating from Penn Square would be lined with wagons and tables or blankets as farmers would bring their produce into the city to sell.
The curbside market was banned by city ordinance years ago, but the practice might be revived this spring, as some standholders are forced from Lancaster's Central Market during a planned 11-month renovation.
Valerie Moul, president of the nonprofit Central Market Trust, said city officials already have approved a proposal for standholders to set up under tents in the heritage quadrant of Penn Square.
Stands that may sell in the square would be those offering fresh produce, flowers or souvenirs because they do not require refrigeration or water, Moul said. Stands could be there, on a rotating basis, from April until late October.
Now, she just has to convince standholders.
Although none wants to move, there are few good alternatives, she said.
The first major renovation of Central Market in four decades is scheduled to begin in January. It will include extensive upgrades to the 120-year-old building's electrical and plumbing systems. That work will require breaking through and replacing pipes and wires under the market's concrete floor.
Moul told City Council members Wednesday that the $7 million project will be "an equal opportunity inconvenience." It will be done in 13 phases with the plastic-shrouded work area moving about every three weeks.
Standholders will be shifted to the available stands. Shoppers will have to find where their favorite stands have been relocated. Standholders with larger stands will be encouraged to share space.
Tables where shoppers eat lunch or drink their coffee will be removed to create more space for displaced stands.
The rest rooms and break area now used by market workers will be gone. The public rest rooms accessible from the square also will be closed. Portable toilets will be outside. The only public parking area adjacent to the market building — along Market Street — will become a staging area for the construction project.
Some standholders are planning on taking mission trips and closing for the duration of the renovation, Moul said.
She said one standholder compared the process to having a kidney stone: very painful, but then it passes.
The work is slated to be completed next November, so standholders may have relief for the holiday season, she said.
When complete, the market will be cooler, with the ability to open gable windows closed since the 1970s, and more energy efficient, with the current lighting replaced with fewer, more efficient fixtures, Moul said.
