After allowing one festival in 2011 and five events last year, the Urban Districts Alliance is requesting Springfield City Council approve an ordinance change that would allow up to eight events permitting alcohol sales and consumption in and around Park Central Square.
At last night’s council meeting, UDA Executive Director Rusty Worley said the popularity of the special events during the last two years has garnered interest from several nonprofits and other organizations. UDA accepts applications for festivals, Worley said, and the city approves event permits. Missouri Alcohol and Tobacco Control is the administrative body that issues picnic licenses for alcohol sales.
Worley said an expansion of Arts Fiesta’s Cinco de Mayo celebration, a Harley motorcycle owners group event in cooperation with the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a Wine Walk event are three possible events that could be added to the 2013 schedule should council approve the ordinance modification.
He said UDA’s approach to festivals with alcohol has been to slowly introduce events and to add more if the community reaction is positive. Brad Erwin, president of Paragon Architecture Inc. and a member of The Network’s Next Cities Task Force, said at a council meeting in
March 2012 that festivals with alcohol in a controlled environment are in high demand among young professionals under 40 because the social aspects help make Springfield a more attractive place to live and work. Erwin spoke when UDA last year advocated for the current allowance of five events.
“The strategy has been to walk before we run,” Worley told council members last night. He was the only member of the public to speak at the meeting.
This morning, Worley estimated nearly 20,000 people attended UDA-sanctioned events last year, with the most popular function, Taste of Springfield, drawing between 8,000 and 10,000 attendees downtown. The other four events – the James River Basin Partnership Downtown Dam Jam, the Springfield Craft Beer Bash, the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival & Car Show, and the Do Good festival – attracted between 2,000 and 3,000 people on average.
“Each of them was a very solid event. They did a good job of laying them out in unique ways to fit their festivals. They had good partners, vendor booths and sponsors. We were pleased with all of the events,” Worley said following the meeting, adding the June through October festivals all are returning in 2013.
Worley said there have not been any estimates of the economic impact on businesses, but the anecdotal feedback he’s received from downtown business owners has been supportive.
“We’ve not had any complaints from businesses in the area about closing off the square, so I think everyone has seen these as being a positive for drawing new patrons downtown,” he said.
The current ordinance allows organizations to offer beer and wine for consumption no more than 12 hours a day and no more than three days in a week in the area bounded by Mill Street, Jefferson Avenue, Pershing Street and Campbell Avenue. The ordinance change is scheduled for a vote at the Feb. 11 council meeting.
