Mérida, Yucatán — Seventy-one vendors who were displaced while Mercado Lucas de Gálvez was being rebuilt will return in waves starting Monday. But as of last week, much of the market appears still in the obra negra stage — basic construction.
After eight months in temporary stalls along the Museum of the City, the tenants will be led to a new building where the meat market was. They will find better sanitation facilities, new wiring and modern display cases — as well as heavy machinery that is still operating elsewhere at the market. Still, an official opening of the historic mercado, the city’s main market, is planned Friday, Aug. 28.
One wastewater treatment plant is promised to be ready next week, but the second one remains seriously delayed, reports La Verdad.
The 55 million peso restoration for Lucas de Gálvez, built in 1948, is ambitious. Another 7 million pesos was allocated to the the newer, neighboring San Benito market, built in 2004.
Jorge Braga, the leader of the merchants’ group, said tenants are pleased with the renovation. For years, vendors had complained about crumbling conditions, including a ceiling collapse in the meat market.
Every day, an estimated 100,000 people visit around 2,000 vendors the main market at Calle 67 and 54 to buy everything from shoes to spices to live animals.
