The Calgary Farmers' Market will have to move from the Currie Barracks by fall 2010. (CBC)

The popular Calgary Farmers' Market will have to find a new home by the fall of 2010 because the company that holds its lease says the Currie Barracks is not an "appropriate venue."

The southwest Calgary market is home to many family-run businesses selling Alberta and British Columbia produce and meats. The market, currently open part-time, is located inside a converted airplane hangar on a former military base slated for redevelopment by Canada Lands Company.

Darrell Komick, general manager of the farmers' market, said the decision was disappointing. The market is exploring alternative sites, said Komick, not giving any details.

"Their plan, as they have outlined today, doesn't include the market and we respect that decision," he said. "We've always been into being collaborative, and we have always believed that there is a solution that we can work with Calgarians, and we still believe that."

In a press release Tuesday, Canada Lands Company said a large-scale public market just doesn't fit the company's larger plans for the former barracks, already home to two residential developments — Garrison Woods and Garrison Green.

"We recognize that the farmers' market is very important to many Calgarians, and we want it to continue to flourish. Currie Barracks is simply not the appropriate venue; the market does not meet the established criteria that earned Currie Barracks LEED Gold environmental certification," says Doug Kester, a vice-president for the company, in a press release.

The self-financing Crown corporation's plan for the site has already been approved by city council, notes the company in the release.

"Having a large-scale public market that requires significant infrastructure to support it does not meet CLC's criteria of a complete and sustainable community," says the release.

While the release said the lease is up in October 2009, Komick said the farmers' market will be able to stay at Currie Barracks until the fall of 2010.

The South Calgary Community Association had started a letter writing campaign in hopes of keeping the market in the hangar, while a Facebook group with the same goal has more than 2,000 members.

With files from Peter Akman