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GREENSBORO - Take a pile of vegetables, add one crumbling ballpark and a pinch of commerce and what do you get?

A new gathering place close to downtown.

This week, Greensboro city staff started re-imagining the War Memorial Stadium area as a city market that would include an expanded Farmers' Curb Market.

The City Council, at the suggestion of Councilman Robbie Perkins, has asked the staff to explore new options for the historic stadium, which will cost more to repair than the city has planned.

Perkins said the city should take advantage of the popularity of the nearby farmers' market to draw more people to the Aycock neighborhood, just a short distance from downtown.

"All these seats in this huge, hulking, rotting place. You sit there and say, 'It'll never be used again,'" Perkins said of the historic stadium. "We need to convert the site to something the city of Greensboro will utilize."

The city staff is scheduled to get back to the council with ideas and cost estimates in October.

Voters have twice turned down plans to restore the 1926 War Memorial Stadium. The stadium's concrete structure is deteriorating, and much of the seating would be cheaper to replace than repair.

The $1.5 million the City Council set aside for some restoration work was not close to the actual costs of the repair job, architectural consultants determined earlier this year.

The council was scheduled to debate what to do about the repairs when Perkins saw the opportunity to do something more at the site.

The ballfield - which hosts about 250 college-level and recreational-league games a year - needs to stay and needs to retain its historic façade, residents said.

But the field does not need the thousands of seats, Perkins said.

The rest of the space could be used as a marketplace, an expansion of the Greensboro Farmers' Curb Market located across Yanceyville Street from the stadium.

"The given is that the ballfield is going to stay there. We need that facility. Everything else we do around that has to be compatible with that use," said Deputy City Manager Bob Morgan, who is leading a staff and community team that brainstormed ideas for the area Friday.

The market could be similar to the open-air Old City Market in Charleston, S.C., which has a variety of vendors.

The concept - a walkable area with lots of attractions - is akin to a plan the neighbors developed in 2002.

"It's probably a good idea. There don't seem to be any realistic options left for the stadium in its current form," said David Wharton, who lives in the Aycock neighborhood and has promoted the efforts to restore the stadium.

A larger marketplace could be a good thing for the Greensboro farmers' market, which is one of the oldest in the state.

The market is currently open on Saturdays and Wednesdays, and has 70 regular vendors.

"We do oftentimes have to turn vendors away because of lack of table space," said Kathy Kates, Greensboro Beautiful director.

The market is packed with shoppers every weekend, residents said. The city could bank on that popularity, and make that spot an attraction.

"If we can expand it to a seven-day-a-week operation, now you are talking about something people can understand," said David

Hoggard, who lives in the neighborhood and is on the Parks and Recreation Commission. "It could be an entrepreneurial place."

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com