HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Five prominent civic groups are asking the Huntsville City Council to expand the days and hours of the proposed downtown arts and entertainment districts.

The Committee of 100, Huntsville Young Professionals, Downtown Forty-Seven, Arts Council and Downtown Huntsville Inc. (formerly Big Spring Partners) want the districts to be open from noon to midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Belk Hudson Lofts developer Charlie Sealy III also agrees with that approach.

"Although our organizations have varying missions, we are in agreement that these proposed days, hours and additional (police and sanitation) resources represent a minimum threshold for these Districts to be successful," the groups said in a letter distributed to City Council members.

"At least half" of the groups' members would prefer the entertainment districts be open all day, every day, said Downtown Forty-Seven President Olly Orton. Noon to midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays is a "reasonable compromise" to the city planning department's initial suggestion to open the districts only from 5-10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, he said.

Downtown Forty-Seven President Olly Orton. (Eric Schultz | eschultz@al.com)

"We don't want to create a Beale Street or Bourbon Street," Orton said Friday, "but we do want people moving across our downtown on foot."

The City Council could vote as early as May 23 to create two downtown arts and entertainment districts with relaxed open-container rules.

The larger district -- nicknamed The Quigley after an early map of Huntsville -- covers 96 acres in the heart of the city, including the Courthouse Square, Von Braun Center, Big Spring International Park, Alabama Constitution Village, Huntsville Museum of Art, Embassy Suites and the downtown Holiday Inn. The proposed Meridian District encompasses about 10 acres around the Meridian Street-Cleveland Avenue intersection, including Bud Cramer Park, A.M. Booth's Lumberyard, Furniture Factory Bar & Grill and Lone Goose Saloon.

Planning and Zoning Administration Manager Marie Bostick said officials chose Thursdays because it coincides with two established summertime events: the Sidewalk Arts Stroll, which is moving from the Courthouse Square to Constitution Village for 2013; and the weekly Greene Street Market.

"Most of the events right now are scheduled for Thursday and Friday evening, so it seemed logical that that would be our first approach," Bostick said Friday. "We need to figure out the logistics and make sure we have the resources in place to handle everything, then grow as appropriate."

The local law creating the districts would be reviewed by the City Council after 90 days.

If the council signs off on creating the districts, someone who buys, say, a Straight to Ale Monkeynaught IPA at Below the Radar Brewhouse could leave the restaurant with his beer in a special plastic cup and drink while walking through the district. He could not take the beer into another bar or restaurant, however, and the rules also prohibit "brown bagging" -- bringing alcohol into the district.

Bostick said the city hopes to open the districts for the first time on June 20, which kicks of the Sidewalk Arts Stroll season.

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