CLEVELAND — The West Side Market was forced to close its indoor hall on Saturday amid power failures due to high winds that are continuing to affect areas across Northeast Ohio, and one market tenant is highlighting the incident to call for change at the market.
According to a social media post from the West Side Market, the market hall is closed, while the open-air produce arcade remains open.
Ohio City Pasta, which operates a stand inside the market hall, said Saturday morning that the closure was prompted by "loss of power last night and electrical issues stemming from that."
Tenant Kate's Fish Market said the power failure shows the need for improvements at the market, calling the refrigeration issues a matter of public safety.
"Our case refrigeration system has been down since last night, all product in the cases is a total loss," the business said on social media.
"This is once again an urgent example of why we need backup generators for the food systems [at the West Side Market]," the post continues. "This is a public safety issue, a food safety issue, and it needs to be addressed immediately. Until we have backup generators, this will not stop happening because [Cleveland Public Power] is not capable of providing an adequate power feed to this historic and iconic institution."
West Side Market butcher shop Lance's Beef said its meat counters were also impacted by the power issues.
"Due to the high winds last night, the market lost power and the electrical panels were damaged and as a result our meat counters went off," the shop posted on social media. "Hopefully they will be repaired and running for business tomorrow."
The West Side Market has at this time not publicly announced when it plans to reopen the market hall.
3News has reached out to the West Side Market for comment on the post by Kate's Fish Market and will update this story if we receive a response.
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