II as population shifted from the city to the suburbs and the development of supermarkets. The building of the Ohio Center and the temporary closing of High Street in the late 1970s caused the Market to hit rock bottom. Attempts to revive the once thriving institution were thwarted by the physical and mechanical limitations of the Quonset hut. The Market was operating on a month-to-month lease with the city. The future was far from secure. During the 1980s a national, growing recognition of public markets emerged. This enabled Columbus residents to rediscover their market. That idea, along with the fear that the city would tear down the Market to develop a parking lot for the planned Greater Columbus Convention Center, drove the creation of the North Market Development Authority (NMDA). This not-for-profit group of shoppers and merchants was established to “preserve and promote the traditional and cultural aspects of the historic North Market." In 1988, NMDA led the market's recovery by negotiating a long-term lease with the city, effectively eliminating the threat of demolition. In 1989, the NMDA assumed daily operations of the market. The initial staff of a Market Master and Executive Director, plus volunteer board members, the NMDA focused on the possibility of rehabilitating the Quonset hut. Physically bursting at the seams and on its last legs, the building was financially impractical to renovate. Even if the costly and extensive repairs were made, the Market would still be housed in a cramped Quonset hut, rather than a light, clean, functional marketplace. The NMDA spearheaded a capital campaign to finance building renovations. The market's new home would be 60 percent larger than the Quonset hut with room for new merchants. After raising $5 million, the NMDA began construction in January 1995. In November 1995, the new North Market opened with 25 merchants. The market house is a former warehouse of the Advance Thresher Company, built in 1915 and part of the North Market Historic District. North Market has been under the leadership of Executive Director Rick Harrison Wolfe since mid-2013. North Market's bell, which was used in the first North Market building, is housed in a decorative structure on the northeast corner of the market parking lot. The bell had survived the market's 1948 fire; it fell and was recovered, and had been stored in the market's basement. Local donations funded its outdoor installation in 2014. The market owners