The Homewood Village Board approved an agreement at Tuesday’s meeting with the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District to relocate the village’s holiday and indoor farmers markets to the H-F Sports Complex for the 2026-2027 season. 

The agreement allows the village to use the facility at 18211 Aberdeen St. as the venue for the 2026 Holiday Market and the 2027 Winter Indoor Markets, Homewood Assistant Village Manager Terence Acquah said. 

The move is necessary due to upcoming construction at the Homewood Auditorium, which will be converted into a multipurpose facility. The renovation is expected to reduce space currently used for indoor markets, making it unable to accommodate the increasing number of vendors, Acquah said. 

Relocating the events to the H-F Sports Complex is expected to increase vendor capacity by about 30%, allowing more businesses to participate and giving some vendors the opportunity to expand their booth space, he said. 

The events will continue to be overseen by Homewood Farmers Market Manager Christine Banks, with support from Homewood Events Manager Marla Youngblood and the Public Works Department, Acquah said. 

Under the agreement, the park district will provide access to the facility from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. for five event dates at a cost of $200 per day, along with a $100 refundable security deposit. The total cost of $1,100 is significantly lower than the park district’s standard rental rate of $100 per hour, he said. 

According to Acquah, funding for the agreement will come from the village’s general fund for community events, with $18,500 budgeted for the farmers market program.

The Holiday Market is scheduled for Dec. 5. Indoor winter market dates are set for Jan. 30, Feb. 27, March 27 and April 24, 2027, he said. 

Acquah said work on the auditorium is expected to move forward as soon as the village gets a response from the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity about updates to the application for the grant that will pay for the project.