MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) — Montgomery residents packed City Hall Tuesday night as city leaders made a major decision about the downtown entertainment district following Saturday night’s mass shooting.
Jud Blount, a third-generation investor in the capital city and owner of several restaurants, including the upscale Italian eatery Ravello on Commerce Street, voiced frustration about safety and the future of downtown commerce.
Blount told council members he is reconsidering plans to open a new restaurant in the historic Winter Building after this weekend’s violence.
“Sunday, I was cleaning blood off the sidewalk in front of Ravello because we had an event that afternoon,” Blount said. “The loitering and the entertainment district are not working.”
Blount said large crowds loitering on sidewalks and the city’s entertainment district policy — which allows open containers of alcohol in designated areas — have created ongoing problems.
“This was supposed to be a strong summer,” Blount said. “Ravello was down 13%, and we were counting on a good fourth quarter. Now, that’s shot. It’s killing us — it’s hurting small businesses in downtown Montgomery. Every business I’ve talked to wants this gone. None of the tourists that are coming to EJI are walking around with drinks. I own Red Bluff Bar and we’re not selling drinks at Red Bluff for people to walk around.”
He said patrons have cancelled several events at his restaurants since the shooting, and some long-time residents are wary about coming downtown.
“I’d like to see police on the ground moving people along — not sitting in their cars,” Blount said. “Some of the videos I’ve seen have been terrible. There are 100, 150 people on the corner of Commerce and Bibb, smoking dope. I’m running a high-end Italian restaurant — it’s hard to have people come out from Ravello and then there’s pot smoke. It’s just not the right scene that we need on Commerce Street in Montgomery.”
District 7 Councilman Andrew Szymanski said part of the problem is a lack of enforcement of the entertainment district ordinance, which requires patrons to carry alcoholic beverages in designated green cups.
“We have an ordinance on the books, but we’re not enforcing it,” Szymanski said. “How many green cups do you see downtown? We don’t stop people, we don’t check cups.”
After lengthy discussion, the council voted unanimously to suspend the downtown entertainment district designation indefinitely.
District 3 Councilwoman Marche Johnson said she believes the decision was overdue.
“It’s important because if we had done this prior to, we may have prevented what happened over the weekend,” Johnson said. “Looking at the footage and the pictures, there was a huge crowd right there on that corner of Commerce and Bibb.”
The council also announced plans to discuss a citywide youth curfew at a committee meeting scheduled for October 17.
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