Loyal customers of Quebec City's March du Vieux Port turn to courts to stall demolition

With a new farmers' market set to open in Quebec City's Limoilou district Friday, the March du Vieux Port stands empty but some customers and vendors are determined to keep it alive.

The closure of the market that's been a fixture at the city's marina for more than 32 years comes as vendors are preparing their new stalls in the Grand March animmense new market next to the Videotron Centre arena.

The two-storey, $20-millionproject is part of Mayor Rgis Labeaume's plan to revitalize the area around the rink. Labeaumehas promised shoppers they'll find everything they need at the new venue.

But the mayor's plan to tear down the Old Port market and replace it with a seasonal tent has some merchants and customers up in arms, and many are rallying to save the building.

"We have a city of more than half a million people," said Franois Marchand, a lawyer and loyal March du Vieux Port shopper who is spearheading a legal fight to save the market.

"There is enough room for three markets. There's one in Sainte-Foy, one in Limoilou, and why not this place?"

Marchand used to visitthe market several times a week andsaid its demolitionwould be a significant loss for the residents in the district.

One of them is Margot Morin, who lives just a short walkfrom the Old Port and has beenshopping there for as long as she can remember.

"I'm used to coming here, but our famous mayor has decided it has to be torn down," she said. Switching to the Grand March is not an option for her, she said, because it's too far away.

Morin said she'll have to forego markets altogether in favour of a grocery store in her neighbourhood, where she said the food is more expensive.

Many of the Old Port market's vendors arealso lamenting the move.

"It's a huge loss for us," said Marylin Hnault, co-ownerand operator ofthe Chile y Medio food stand.

She said she and her partner expect to lose between $60,000 and $80,000, as the market is closing just as theywere gearing up for the busiest time of the year.

Hnault wants Labeaume to leavethe Old Port market intact.

"It's our life.It's our business," she said. "That's how we survive."

Some vendors are looking forward to the new setting.

Kathleen Hbert and her family have run a vegetable stand at the market since it first opened.As a third-generation vendor, she said, the Old Port feelslike a second home.

"At first, we were against the idea," she said but after seeing the Grand March, she's says she's now ready for the move.

TheCooprative des horticulteurs de Qubec, which managed the Old Port market, will manage the new one.It has confirmed that many, thoughnot allof the vendors are making the switch to the new space.

Meanwhile, Marchand is keeping alive the hope the Old Port market building can be saved.

He is expectedback in court June 20, when he'll try to persuadea judge to delay its demolition of the Old Port market building.If the market is reopened, Hbert said, her business will return.