MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – The Montgomery City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to suspend the downtown entertainment district. Montgomery also has entertainment districts in the Cottage Hill and Cloverdale neighborhoods, which were unaffected by Tuesday’s vote.
Entertainment districts are where patrons of restaurants and bars can purchase alcoholic beverages, then carry drinks with them within the district.
The decision follows a mass shooting in the district on Saturday night in which 14 people were shot, two being fatal, and left five others in life-threatening condition.
“If we would have done this prior to, we may have prevented what happened over the weekend,” said councilwoman Marche Johnson, who represents the downtown area. “Looking at footage and cameras over the weekend, there was a large crowd in that corner of Commerce and Bibb.”
Councilman Andrew Szymanski, who owns Hilltop Public House in the Cottage Hill entertainment district, agrees that safety must come first.
“One of my concerns is that we have rules that are not being enforced, that’s what leads to some of the problems that we’re seeing,” Szymanski believes.
Jud Blount, the owner of Ravello Ristorante on Commerce Street, urged the council to act before the vote.
“Sunday I was cleaning blood off the sidewalks in front of Ravello because of an event Sunday afternoon and the loitering and the entertainment district, they’re not working,” Blount said. “I hope y’all will consider getting rid of the entertainment district, people need to keep walking, they don’t need to be loitering.”
Councilwoman Johnson also introduced potential ordinances to ban ski masks and extend curfew hours.
A council committee meeting is scheduled to discuss those initiatives for October 17th at 10 a.m.
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