Peach Valley Produce based out of Palisade will not set up shop this summer in its usual location in the 2300 block of Main Avenue near Durango High School.
The southwest corner is undergoing renovations to add more parking spaces to the high school. It is an effort to offset some of the parking that will be lost as a result of construction work occurring this year on the Impact Career Innovation Center.
In total, 43 parking spots were lost as a result of construction of the Innovation Center. To offset that, the school district renovated the parking lot, which includes adding a new parent drop-off space, and is paving the fruit stand location for a total of 49 new parking spaces.
“As part of these improvements, we had to add parking where the peach stand and the lawn was,” said Karla Sluis, spokeswoman for Durango School District 9-R. “It wasn’t for a gain in parking, it was to supplement a loss in parking.”
The new parking lot won’t be paved and completed in time for the summer produce stand. It is unknown if Peach Valley Produce will be able to use the spot in the future. It may depend on whether the produce stand needs to stake its tents into the ground or can set up on pavement, Sluis said.
The stand has been offering fresh peaches, plums, cherries and other produce grown in Colorado’s Grand Valley for almost 10 years at the DHS location.
Peach Valley Produce manager Jeremy Swiger said the produce stand is looking at a couple of different options for relocation. He hopes the stand can set up at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, but nothing has been finalized.
He said the change in location will likely impact this summer’s business because the spot outside DHS has high visibility, but a spot at the Fairgrounds would not be a bad alternative.
He said it is likely Peach Valley will work with 9-R in the future to use the DHS property once construction is complete.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
