Dec 6, 2002 By Amy Karpinsky 2 min read

Shoppers visiting downtown Uniontown this Christmas season will find a collection of antique and craft vendors inside a store that has recently been vacant. As a part of the “ReVITALize Downtown Uniontown” initiative, the vendors will be setting up shop for the next few weekends inside the former G.C. Murphy building on Main Street for a holiday bazaar.

ReVITALize Downtown Uniontown is a group of city and county organizations committed to bringing viable businesses to three vacant Main Street buildings. The three buildings are located beside the State Theatre Center for the Arts. The idea is to secure at least one tenant for the buildings early next year.

Raymond C. Polaski, executive director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority and a member of the ReVITALize initiative, said this weekend, beginning today, is the “grand opening” for the holiday bazaar.

Polaski said the first floor of the building will feature several antique dealers, a homemade candle gift shop and a specialty food shop. He said the idea is to “reacquaint people with downtown.” He said all the windows have been decorated to liven up the building and additional craft dealers are welcome. Anyone wishing to set up in the building is asked to call the chamber at 724-437-4571.

Muriel Nuttall, executive director of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce, said the bazaar will feature an assortment of vendors. She said the building has about 7,000-square-feet of space and currently seven or eight local dealers are scheduled for the area.

She said the bazaar will give people the opportunity to get Christmas gifts and also features more downtown businesses. Nuttall said during their initial outing last weekend, the vendors brought in a couple hundred dollars in business.

The building is owned by Robert E. Eberly but is being leased by the Redstone Foundation, a non-profit organization. Nuttall said the crafters pay a small rental charge, but that is used to offset the heat and electric costs for the building.

The bazaar hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and it will be open today and Saturday; and Dec. 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 and 23. An advertisement for the event lists quality crafts, antiques, gifts, specialty foods and baked goods.

Nuttall said she anticipates that the bazaar is the “beginning of great things to come” for downtown.