On Tuesday, October 6, the Downtown DeWitt Development Authority closed the 100 block of North Bridge Street one more time for the Fall Fest. More than 400 kids walked away with candy, according to the City Administrator's report to council, and that market wrapped up the season. If construction keeps to its schedule, it was also the last season the market spends in the street. A half block away, at 119 W. Jefferson Street, the footings are poured and the main structure arrives next week.
For more than a century, downtown DeWitt has had no public square of its own. Every big gathering has borrowed a street and closed it for the day. The Jefferson Street site changes that, and the city's paperwork is already shifting to keep up.
More than twenty years in the street
WILX reported in February that the market has been held in the streets for more than 20 years. It runs June through October and draws about 35 to 40 vendors and roughly 600 visitors a week. That puts it among the three largest farmers markets in the region, according to the Lansing Economic Area Partnership's July announcement.
All of that fit onto one block, and the block paid for it. LEAP's release lays out the tradeoff. Closing the 100 block of North Bridge affected about thirteen businesses every week, removed on-street parking, and put vendors in pop-up tents with no shelter from the weather. The 2026 season ran Tuesdays from 4 to 7 p.m., June 2 through October 6, skipping only August 18. That adds up to about eighteen Tuesday afternoons a year when one of downtown's busiest blocks belonged to the market and nobody else.
What 119 W. Jefferson replaces
The new site sits at the corner of West Jefferson and North Scott. An excavating company used the parcel from the 1970s on. LEAP describes it as formerly blighted and calls the project the first public gathering space in downtown DeWitt since 1896. That was the year the original Central Town Square was built, one block east of the new site.
The plan includes:
- A covered market structure for vendors
- Public restrooms
- On-site storage
- A pavilion surrounded by green space
- A parking lot where shoppers can find food trucks and larger vendors
The project costs $1.8 million. LEAP's Community Enhancement Grant, administered with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, covers $500,000 through the state's Revitalization and Placemaking program, and the City of DeWitt is putting in a $1.3 million local match. The city's Department of Public Services, which already runs nine city parks and the 2,400-square-foot community space at City Hall, will operate and maintain the site.
The site will also work on days with no market. LEAP says the lot will provide off-street parking for visitors to downtown shops, restaurants and events. WILX reported that the city plans to hold special events there outside market hours. At the July groundbreaking, Mayor Susan Leeming put it this way in the LEAP release:
"This space is exactly what our downtown has been missing."
The main structure arrives October 21
Since the July 13 groundbreaking, the council record has followed the project one pay application at a time. On August 10, council approved Pay Application #2 for $76,220 to Carbon Six Construction. On September 14, Pay Application #3 was approved for $323,802, more than four times the August amount, as work moved from site prep into foundations. The October 12 council packet recommends approving Pay Application #4 for $238,801.50, plus two change orders totaling $51,131.98. Both items were on the agenda for that meeting, and approval wasn't yet on record when this was written.
According to the City Administrator's report, the project is on schedule and every footing for the structure has been poured. The main structure is due Wednesday, October 21, and installation is expected to start within five to seven days after it arrives. With the footings already in, installation can begin soon after delivery. LEAP's stated target for completion is December 2026.
Here's how the rest of the fall lines up from the city and Chamber calendars:
- Monday, October 19. City leaf collection begins with a citywide sweep, then alternates between the north and south sides of the river.
- Wednesday, October 21. The market's main structure is delivered to 119 W. Jefferson.
- Saturday, October 24, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A Trick or Treat Trail at Riverside Park, listed in the City Administrator's September report. At the same hours, the DeWitt Chamber Foundation's Annual Fall Funfest takes place at the Chamber Conference Center, 1120 Commerce Park Drive, with an indoor Arts & Crafts Bazaar of local makers.
- Late October into November. Structure installation is set to begin within five to seven days of delivery.
- Saturday, December 5, 2 to 6 p.m. The DDA's Christmas Market, which the city lists as a non-farmers-market event.
The rules are moving with the market
Building the structure is one change. How downtown events are permitted is another, and it's changing this fall too.
In August, the DDA board asked council to allow alcohol consumption in downtown right-of-ways during the remaining Tuesday markets and the December 5 Christmas Market. On August 24, council approved the remaining market dates unanimously and approved the Christmas Market on a 5–1 vote. The approved zone runs from the east side of Franklin and East Main to the east side of Scott and West Main, and from the south side of Washington and South Bridge to the south side of Jefferson and North Bridge. Jefferson and Scott, the two cross streets that mark the zone's northern and western edges, are the same two streets that meet at the new market site.
That arrangement, approved one event at a time, may not last. In the October 12 report, the City Administrator wrote that he and Chief Curtis met with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission about downtown events that allow open alcohol. The MLCC advised the city to create a Social District to accommodate those events and avoid conflicts with liquor licenses, since Social Districts have changed how licensees can serve. A draft Social District Management and Maintenance Plan is in council's general information packet. It's still a draft, and council hasn't adopted anything. Even so, a permanent gathering space and a standing district framework arriving in the same season point the same way. Downtown DeWitt is setting itself up to host events regularly instead of arranging each one as an exception.
Bridge Street gets its Tuesdays back
Once the market moves to Jefferson, the 100 block of North Bridge stays open on market afternoons, and the businesses that worked around a street closure for two decades keep their curb. The DDA's business directory lists these on and around that block:
| Business | Address | Per the DDA directory |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe | 108 N. Bridge St. | Bakery and cafe |
| Looking Glass Brewing Co. | 115 N. Bridge St. | Brewery |
| Dwelling Coffee | 116 N. Bridge St. | Coffee |
| Bridge + Main Market | 119 N. Bridge St. | Handmade goods, home décor, clothing, jewelry, accessories, treats |
| Bridge + Main Market Plant Studio | 125 N. Bridge St. | Plants, gifts, classes, event space |
| Scoopy Doo's Old Fashioned Ice Cream | 126 N. Bridge St. | Ice cream |
The directory doesn't carry a date, so seasonal hours, especially for an ice cream shop heading into November, are best checked with each business directly. Geography is the main change. Market traffic that used to land in front of these storefronts will now arrive half a block west, park in a dedicated lot, and walk over. That off-street parking on non-market days is exactly what LEAP's release presents as a downtown benefit.
What isn't settled yet
A few details are still unconfirmed. The city's council packets list the December 5 Christmas Market by date and time only, and the DDA's online event page still describes the 2024 edition, so the 2026 location and program are worth checking closer to the date. The Chamber's Holiday Bazaar and 11th Annual Festival of Trees at 1120 Commerce Park Drive is listed for December 5 on the Chamber's event page and for December 6 on the Foundation's calendar, so confirm the date before you plan around it. December 2026 remains a target completion date, not a promise. The next clear checkpoint is October 21, when the structure is delivered to Jefferson Street.
Footings to frame to finish is a build sequence our team knows well, and following one through council packets is the kind of detail we watch for clients across Greater Lansing. If you're curious what a project like this means for your corner of DeWitt, or you're weighing a build of your own nearby, Nicole Giguere and the Giguere Estates team are glad to talk it through. Let me lead you home.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
