Part of River Market will close for repairs; sewer-line work to affect 14 vendors

Workers in Little Rock’s River Market District break up concrete Tuesday outside the Ottenheimer Market Hall where part of a sewer line collapsed.
Workers in Little Rock’s River Market District break up concrete Tuesday outside the Ottenheimer Market Hall where part of a sewer line collapsed.

The Ottenheimer Market Hall in downtown Little Rock, home to about 14 food vendors, will be closed today so a collapsed sewer line can be replaced, officials said.

Sewer lines get old, and with age comes repairs, said Diana Long, director of River Market Operations for the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau operates the Market Hall at 400 President Clinton Ave.

A portion of the sewer line collapsed about six months ago, and the bureau fixed it promptly, Long said. About 10 days ago, it was discovered that a segment of that same line, this time under a city street, had collapsed, she said.

The Little Rock public works division will replace the line, which is expected to take only a day, bureau Chief Operating Officer Jim Rice said. All water will be shut off to facilitate the repair.

"There's just no other choice. We can't do this with the water on," Long said.

A city spokesman said a cost estimate for replacing the line wasn't available Tuesday.

To ensure that River Market vendors don't lose any of their products, the convention and visitors bureau is providing a refrigerated truck for any items that were stored in the Market Hall basement's walk-in cooler. Other freezers, and utilities except water, are unaffected.

The repair comes two months after one former vendor vocally criticized the bureau for failing to appropriately address problems at the building, including a basement sewage leak. Omar Kassees of Mason's Grill said in a February email that the smell lingered, and contaminated substances dripped onto his products.

Those accusations are untrue, Long told Arkansas Online at the time. Mason's Grill left Market Hall because of nonpayment of rent multiple times during its lease term, she said at the time.

"We don't have an ongoing problem that's due to a lack of maintenance, or anything like that," Long said Tuesday.

"That particular vendor thought we should be able to snap our fingers and cure all the problems that ever were," she added.

Kassees also mentioned in a Tuesday email that Market Hall had long-standing air-conditioning problems.

Long said that last year, the bureau determined the air-conditioning system needed to be replaced, which is an involved and costly process.

"Everything we absolutely could fix, we fixed it ... I don't really know why their expectations were so high as far as us being able to never have a problem, ever," she said.

Current vendors at the hall include David's Burgers, Bangkok Thai Cuisine, Big on Tokyo, Bea Blessed Bakery, Indian Feast, Jay's Pizza, Katmandu Mo Mo and Old Mill Bread & Flour Co.

An owner of the Old Mill Bread & Flour Co. said the company doesn't comment on problems at the building.

When reached by phone, the owner of Big on Tokyo said that he's never had any sewage problems in Market Hall.

Desiderio Juarez, who owns Casa Manana Taqueria, said that about two years ago, there was a sewage leak in the building that was fixed quickly. Last summer, there were several days in a row when the Market Hall was hot, without air conditioning, he said.

In general, Juarez said, "I've been happy over there for a long time."

Metro on 05/02/2018

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