by Malcolm Butler
By a vote of 3-0, the Ruston City Council voted in favor of moving forward with the creation of the Ruston Entertainment District during Thursday night’s meeting.
The new district will allow of-age individuals to carry alcohol outside of restaurants as long as it’s held in the Ruston Entertainment District branded cups that will be sold at eating establishments inside the footprint of the new district.
There was a tweak to that footprint during Thursday night’s meeting.
“We decided to change the boundaries (for the Ruston Entertainment District) from what was first presented,” said Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker. “The reason we are changing them is so we can get our Historical, our Cultural, and our Entertainment Districts all using the same boundaries.”
“The ordinance actually addresses several amendments to Chapter 5 (of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ruston) which is the section that deals with alcoholic beverages,” said City Attorney Bill Carter. “The amendments that will be most important is the creation of a new Entertainment District. It is set forth as an exception to the open container section of Chapter 5.
“It essentially will allow someone to have an open container of alcohol under certain specific requirements, including a specified district. It is congruent to our other districts and is primarily centered downtown with a couple of bars.”
Other aspects of the ordinance includes the time period involved (10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday thru Saturday), the type of container (a clear plastic cup that is branded as the Ruston Entertainment District), and what establishments can provide the container (restaurants located within the entertainment district).
Walker said the new Ruston Entertainment District (map below) would begin next weekend in conjunction with the opening home game for Louisiana Tech football.
“There are some pretty strict regulations on how this will work,” said Carter. “It’s not designed to have any adverse effects on our downtown.”
Aldermen Caroline Cage (Ward 1), John Denny (Ward 4), and Bruce Siegmund (Ward 5) all voted in favor of the ordinance allowing for the creation of the Ruston Entertainment District.
However, the vote didn’t come before some discussion on the topic.
Siegmund asked questions, including about the specific cups themselves.
“They will stay the same,” said Walker. “They are clear, 16 ounce cups that have Ruston Entertainment District on them.
“We just feel like this is a great way to get more people downtown. If I still owned a store downtown, then (with the new entertainment district) I would stay open later on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. And if someone came in with one of those cups, I would give them a (discount). We are wanting to drive people downtown. We have an incredible downtown.”
Siegmund continued sharing his concerns.
“I do want to be supportive of the restaurants,” said Siegmund. “It’s just my human nature to think, ‘What could happen?’ When you mix alcohol and people downtown … I am a little concerned with our crosswalks. People walking around and drinking. We may need to improve our crosswalks downtown.
“But again, I’m okay giving it a shot. I am also open to refining some things if we find some issues.”
Walker agreed.
“When we went and talked to all the downtown restaurant owners individually, we told them that this is not set in stone,” said Walker. “It could change. In fact, we changed it from what we originally had to shorten the hours. That was feedback from some of the restaurants.
“On the sidewalks, there will be signage saying, ‘You are leaving the Ruston Entertainment District.’ You can only use the cups in that designated area.”
There was no public opposition to the new district during Thursday night’s meeting, and Walker said he had “hardly any” push back from residents.
“This is for walking only,” said Walker. “This is not getting in a car with that cup and being able to drive. This is strictly walking around our downtown.
“We are trying to encourage people to come downtown, eat in the restaurants and shop in our shops. We want (more people) to be a part of our wonderful downtown.”
