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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Peter Brewer

Canberra's much-loved Old Bus Depot Markets to reopen

The Old Bus Depot Markets. Picture: Supplied

One of Canberra's most loved Sunday institutions, the Old Bus Depot Markets, will reopen on March 20.

The markets have been closed for over two years due to the pandemic.

Lead dust was also found at the site during renovations in 2021.

The diverse and bustling Kingston markets, which attracts stallholders from all around the region, have been held for 28 years within an ACT Heritage-registered building within the government-protected arts precinct.

It's almost sacrilegious to consider it now but back in 2009 the cavernous site on Wentworth Avenue was under consideration for redevelopment.

Now it sits under a Colin Stewart-developed master plan which, in the future, may see the 1940s premises linked to the nearby arts precinct, former powerhouse and glassworks.

As the name implies, the building, with its its fully welded rigid portal frame, once was the site for the servicing of Canberra's buses and emergency service vehicles.

The first Old Bus Depot Markets were held in September 1994. They were not originally in this location but in the old powerhouse next door (before it became the glassworks), then shifted soon after.

The markets have since been inducted into the Australian Tourism Hall of Fame.

The doors will reopen at 9.30am on March 20.

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