HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – The future of the Holland Civic Center involves more than just the building and vicinity.
The 8th Street Marketplace and the Civic Center Place Vision were topics during Wednesday night’s City Council work study session. The panel was briefed by City Manager Ryan Cotton about how to move forward once Holland Farmers Market Master Candy Todd and her key assistant Judy Laidler both retire at the end of this current market season. Todd has been at her post since 1995; Laidler came on board last year.
Cotton is proposing to replace those two “part-time” positions with a full-time Civic Center Place Coordinator that would manage the market, the renovated Civic Center building and the 8th Street Marketplace “more comprehensively” by maximizing their use. Part-time assistants during the market months would also be hired.
Cotton is hopeful of filling this new position “as soon as possible” so that the new hire can work alongside existing staff as early as this October. If given the go-ahead by Council, perhaps as early as next Wednesday’s business meeting, he plans to assemble an interview team that would represent the multiple interests the new coordinator would need to serve.
