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HARRISON, Arkansas (KY3) – The Harrison, Arkansas City Council has officially passed an ordinance to create a recreation district in its downtown area.
Entertainment districts will allow opening of bottles between different businesses that choose to abide by district guidelines. The Ordinance has established several rules:
– Only beer and wine are allowed to travel from one company to another
– Alcoholic beverages must be stored in designated containers and may only be purchased at participating businesses that hold a liquor license
– Beverages may only be taken in designated areas around the Plaza, excluding Court Lawn and Old Federal Building
– Beverage shipments are only permitted during defined hours on certain days of the week.
With Harrison City Hall and the Boone County Courthouse moving the site away from downtown, many business owners were excited by the news of the district’s approval.
“I’m super excited. I think this is just the first step in making the square a place that people want to come to, a destination,” said Joy Kuykendall, owner of Town House Cafe in downtown Harrison.
Several businesses, such as Town House, have already begun taking steps to better integrate into the new entertainment district.
“Right now, we’re open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., but we’re going to apply for our liquor license so people can drink mimosas,” Kuykendall said. “From there, we hope to open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.”
The district, led by Explore Harrison, wanted to get it up and running as soon as possible, but said it wanted to “tick all the boxes” before moving forward.
“Yes, the first step is to build our committee, and that committee that writes into the ordinance,” said Matt Bell of Explore Harrison. “Bring these people together and start the planning process. We’re really trying to be careful, to be mindful of the community and our downtown, and try to do it the right way.”
Bell said community members have grown increasingly concerned about the future of downtown in recent years, even though the proposal was initially narrowly rejected by city council in 2018.
“I think the most important thing I want people to know is that we’re doing this for our downtown. We really want to see our downtown succeed,” Bell said.
Explore Harrison, where the Board of Supervisors will be responsible for the entertainment district’s business applications and possible rule adjustments that may be required.
“We wanted the entertainment district to encompass a lot of things, and we wanted to build on that with social activities,” Bell said. “That’s what I wanted to call it, it’s a social area because it’s designed to put together things that help invite people to come to our city center and do that consistently. You can’t throw events on a whim .”
According to Explore Harrison folks, the entertainment precinct has already drawn interest from potential businesses.
“I’ve talked to one of our new potential landowners downtown, and I asked them what they thought of the entertainment district, and they said, ‘Why do you think we’re buying this building? We’re buying this building because of the entertainment district. ,” Bell said.
Explore Harrison is expected to host the opening of the entertainment district in spring 2023.
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