BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The BJCC wants you to take your alcoholic beverage with you as you move from an Uptown restaurant or bar to a concert or event at the civic center – as long as you know your limits. Literally.

A new open-container ordinance the city is adopting seeks to contain where customers in established entertainment districts can and can't amble with their alcohol in approved containers.

The boundary created by the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and Uptown entertainment district is the first to identify its physical limits and propose a way of marking them – in this case, painting blue borderlines on the sidewalks.

The Birmingham Design Review Committee did not like either the aesthetics of that proposal or the expected function of a sidewalk line.

Richard Mauk, an attorney and member of the committee, said all it would take is a few people inadvertently congregating on one of the lines for others to miss it entirely.

Most of the panel seemed to favor using some actual masonry within the sidewalks and walkways to market the boundaries rather than simply painting over the existing brick and concrete. Painted curbs, potential signage or a combination of elements were among ideas the committee discussed.

Because this would set a precedent for other entertainment districts that would have to establish similar boundaries, the committee wanted to be sure the best solution possible was in place before approving.

The committee voted to table the proposal until a better option is found. They recommend the BJCC explore what other entertainment districts in other cities have done and even bring in the designers of the Uptown signage package to offer ways of tying the two together.

The BJCC envisions patrons taking drinks from Uptown restaurants to the entrances of concert, meeting, or exhibit venues but not permitted to carry open containers into event venues, parking areas, or public rights-of-way that are outside of district boundaries.

"This is a brand new process for the City of Birmingham, and this was step one," Tad Snider, executive director and chief executive of the BJCC, said after the meeting. "We look forward to working with the Design Review Committee and the city to develop a signage approach for the Uptown entertainment district."