Pike Place Market celebrates 50 years since it was saved from demolition

SEATTLE — Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market is celebrating its 50th anniversary on Saturday of when it was saved from demolition.

Known for its fish, flowers and fresh produce, it’s hard to fathom Seattle without the nine-acre Pike Place Market. It’s hard to think that 50 years ago, the market was almost lost to a wrecking ball.

“Fifty years ago, the market was at risk for urban renewal so they would have torn down parts of the market and built up kind of that brutalist style building during that time,” Madison Bristol with the Pike Place Market Foundation said.

But instead, historic photos show a grassroots effort by a group called Friends of the Market that fought back through the Keep the Market campaign in 1971. Seattle voters were ultimately convinced to save the market, and the victory has paved the way for the preservation of the largest continuously operating public market in the country.

“Now today we have 500 small businesses – farmers, crafters – operating here daily and it’s become really the soul of Seattle,” said Bristol.

To commemorate, Pike Place Market celebrated with special activities.

“We have free market tours happening, we have a treasure hunt where you have a chance to win Delta Airlines tickets, we have A.I. murals happening,” Bristol said.

Honoring those who fought to keep the market alive, making it the landmark we know today.

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