I told my wife I had a morning interview in the Strip District, so she asked me stop at Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. to pick up three containers of shredded, imported Romano cheese and some green olives from the olive bar.

That errand, in a nutshell or maybe a small plastic jar, is a big part of the challenge facing Neighbors in the Strip. The nonprofit, community development group wants a new destination to lure shoppers, but the key will be ensuring that the tried-and-true stores on Penn Avenue are complemented, and not cannibalized, by the new kids in town.

The answer may be taking a sixth of the big, old produce terminal on Smallman Street -- now owned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and almost strictly a wholesaling complex -- and making it a public market. That would mean putting a bit of the past in Pittsburgh's future.

There once were thriving market houses on the North Side, the South Side and Downtown. Cities such as Philadelphia, Cleveland and Seattle have them still, so some among us know what they're like. Take a cavernous building and fill it with dozens of merchants, each taking perhaps a 10-foot-by-10 foot space, and sell everything from local produce to imported flowers.

The Strip took a hit when Whole Foods and then Trader Joe's opened in East Liberty. Although the Penn Avenue stores still get good weekend traffic, "one or two busy days a week does not a business make," Becky Rodgers said.

"Right now the Strip District's a one-street show," Cindy Cassell said.

Ms. Rodgers is executive director of Neighbors in the Strip, and Ms. Cassell is its economic development manager. Ms. Rodgers' great-uncle was a butcher in the Allegheny Market House, which was demolished in 1966 to make way for Allegheny Center Mall. (Pause for booing.) Ms. Cassell has been living in the Strip for 10 years, and has watched it emerge as a residential neighborhood, with dog parks now flanking the Cork Factory apartments and joggers an everyday sight.

A blending of old and new will be the key to this public market. Within a mile are revitalized neighborhoods such as the lower North Side, the lower Hill District, Downtown, Lawrenceville and the Strip itself, but it's seen as a regional draw for anyone within 20 miles.

More than 30 potential merchants have expressed interest, and they haven't even begun advertising. A big part of this will be local farmers providing meat and produce in season. Jamison Farm of Latrobe, which sells about 5,000 lambs a year to top restaurants from New York to Las Vegas, is interested, and Ms. Cassell says she's already found a guy who grows 15 kinds of garlic, about 14 more than I knew existed.

The market house likely would open four days a week. About 12,000 square feet would be devoted to fresh and prepared foods, and another 5,400 square feet, a block down the walkway, would offer flowers, crafts and such.

It would keep the semi-industrial bare-bones look that exemplifies the Strip. Steam-clean the spaces, put the utilities in and go.

"We're not going to do it pretty," Ms. Rodgers said. "We're not going to do a mall. It's going to look very earthy."

Indovina Associates Architects has the contract to design the spaces and blend them with the neighborhood. Brian Kaminski, project architect, sees vendors currently taking sidewalk space on Penn floating down the side streets of 17th, 19th and 21st to create a walkable connection with Smallman.

Rob Indovina, the principal architect, sees a destination that complements Wholey's, Pennsylvania Macaroni, Right By Nature and the other current draws.

Jeff Kumer, a property owner in the Strip who remembers going to the Allegheny Market House as a boy, thinks the right plan could bring in 12,000 new shoppers each week. A demonstration kitchen, like the ones in all those TV cooking shows, seems a natural.

The plan has gotten this far with state and federal grants and foundation support, but foundations have been hammered by the Wall Street implosion. Best-case scenario has this opening by the spring of 2010, but somebody needs to come up with at least a million dollars first.

After my interview, I bought my cheese and olives at Pennsylvania Macaroni and then treated myself to an almond mele down at Colangelo's on 21st Street. What's in the Strip is already very good. Bring on the garlic extravaganza and lamb.