TOWN Clerk Royston King has announced that works on the Kitty Market, which have been stalled for months due to a lack of finances, will be completed in time for the market to have a November 1 reopening.“We have recommenced works at the Kitty Market, and we’re moving apace,” King told the fortnightly statutory meeting at City Hall on Monday.

The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has, to date, received more than 170 applications from citizens who wish to occupy new stalls in the market, the ground floor of which is costing the Council roughly $35M.

The market, which King observed has great historical significance and bears much pride for the Kitty community, is to feature a traditional health centre, office for rates and taxes, and space for the community councillor.

“We are also contemplating putting some space for the councillor’s office at the market; and this is not only at Kitty, but wherever we have municipal buildings, we intend to make space available for councillors working with their local communities,” King disclosed.

According to King, there will be a decentralisation of Council’s work, as the market will take into account the needs of communities between Cummings Lodge and Kitty.

The upper flat of the market is being remodelled to include a rates and taxes office as well as a municipal clinic. “People from Cummings Lodge to Kitty don’t have to come all the way to City Hall to pay their rates and taxes. We are aiming to reintroduce the system that was in place many years ago,” Mayor Patricia Chase-Green told the Chronicle.

The upper flat of the market will also accommodate new vendors, Chase-Green informed, and installing a clinic up there will also be looked at.

The Kitty Market was established in 1882, two years after the Bourda Market had come into being. Like the Bourda Market, Kitty Market is timber-framed.

The 19th century structure had suffered massive deterioration over the years prior to its renovation, causing vendors operating in its environs to lodge numerous complaints with the City Council. The Council had, however, long been citing financial woes as the reason why the market had continued to remain a “threat to life and limb”.

Renovation work at the market was stalled recently, and City Engineer Colvern Venture had cited his inability to secure materials as a result of limited finances.

The City Council had hoped to finish works on the market in time for the Golden Jubilee celebrations, but had been unable to so do.