Clearwater's Mercado: A gathering place for Hispanic community, city

Clearwater’s Mercado, a newly built community plaza and gathering place at Cleveland Street and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, is the latest project in the city’s effort to reinvigorate its Downtown Gateway neighborhood. 

Mercado, the Spanish word for market, consists of a central grassy area under a vivid cobalt blue and lime green shade canopy and raised landscaped planters. The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency funded the approximately $928,000 project. Biltmore Construction was the contractor.

“It’s a very small area as far as size but it’s a very big area as far as opportunity,” Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector says during a November 1st ribbon-cutting. “This is a gathering place for the community that will pump life into the entire neighborhood.”

By the end of spring 2025, Mercado will also feature a mosaic art installation created by artist Cristina Salas, an Ecuadorian-born, New York-based artist selected through a community vote.

During the November 1st event, Clearwater City Manager Jennifer Poirrier says Mercado embraces the Hispanic community “that calls this city home.”

“Clearwater’s Downtown Gateway neighborhood is a vibrant and diverse neighborhood and we’re so proud of this space,” she says.

Christopher CurryClearwater's Mercado is a newly built community plaza and gathering place off Cleveland Street and Gulf-to-Bay BoulevardMercado is located along the stretch of Cleveland Street lined by shopping plazas with Hispanic and Latino-owned small businesses. In late 2023, the city completed a streetscaping project along that stretch of Cleveland that converted the road to one lane in each direction with improved pedestrian and cycling facilities and landscaping. During this year’s inaugural Art Oasis Mural Festival, local artists also created vivid murals on the walls of several local businesses, adding public art to the Downtown Gateway area. 

Now comes Mercado. During the November 1st ceremony, Hispanic Outreach Center Director of Community Engagement Andrea Vendetti says the Mercado will be a gathering place for the Hispanic community the nonprofit helps. That community has steadily grown over the last 20 years. First, came immigrants from the Mexican state of Hidalgo, followed by families arriving from Puerto Rico, Cuba and across Latin America. Vendetti says the Hispanic community enriches the Clearwater community with “shared values and a strong sense of belonging and community.”

The Mercado can be a gathering place for that community to come together, she says.

“This Mercado is great news for us,” Vendetti says. “We have a large Hispanic community living within walking distance of the Mercado. It will be a place for events that celebrate our Hispanic heritage through food, art and music.”

For more information, go to Mercado