The developer of D.C.’s Southwest Waterfront says the one thing wrong with the fish market on the waterfront’s north end is that visitors don’t know it exists. The team of PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette wants to change that by building a landmark sign for the market similar to the Domino Sugar plant sign at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
“We want the fish market to stay how it is — the same messiness, the same crazy parking scheme,” said Stan Eckstut, a consultant and principal of Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects. “[But it’s missing] an icon really to announce to people about this place, that we are welcoming people to D.C.”
The open-air market has served Washington residents for more than two centuries, but when the Southwest Freeway was built in the 1950s it cut through the waterfront, placing the market in its shadow. Over the years the market became a well-kept secret of nearby residents.
According to PN Hoffman CEO Monty Hoffman, the development team has partnered with the city and commissioned a study to evaluate the landmark sign.
The development team’s plan for the market, which was presented to the National Capital Planning Commission, also includes expanding the market footprint.
While not disturbing the existing stands and barges that make up the character of the market, the developers plan to add more retail and shops adjacent to the area and name it Market Square. The concept is modeled after Seattle’s Pike Place Market, known for its electric atmosphere where shops are crammed into blocks and pedestrians dominate the narrow streets where drivers are running their errands.
Some commissioners expressed concern over the design, saying the street or alley that would serve as the main pedestrian entrance into the market would be too narrow to accommodate people and cars.
Eckstut said that’s the point.
“We want the place to feel authentic and alive and real, and it’s a jolt from the federal Mall experience,” he said. “I hate to say this in a federal context, but we’re trying to create a place that doesn’t work.”
