Downtown Henderson restaurants pleased with first Sunset District night

The City of Henderson’s new Sunset District program, which permits customers of participating downtown restaurants and bars to openly carry alcoholic beverages around portions of the central business district during special events, got its first tryout on Saturday as part of the annual Porchfest music event along South Main Street.

It wasn’t a perfect test. The boundaries of the Sunset District don’t overlap with that of Porchfest, which takes place in a residential area along South Main Street. The specially marked Sunset District plastic cups that were available at restaurants and required for open carry weren’t permitted past Washington Street.

But initial reviews nonetheless were favorable.

“The feedback I’ve received was positive,” city Public Information Officer Holli Blanford said.

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“I thought it went over really well,” Henderson Tourist Director Abby Dixon said. “It was certainly a good night to be in Downtown Henderson. The restaurants were packed, which is the goal. The sunset was great on Saturday and it was nice to see so many people enjoying it in the park.

“From all of my observations, no one was abusing this,” Dixon said. “This isn’t Mardi Gras. It was very well received and everybody played by the rules.”

Clay Gillham, the downtown events & communications coordinator for the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, said she visited the Sunset District after Porchfest concluded around 8 p.m., “and it did seem like a lot of folks migrated from Porchfest to Sunset District, which was the goal — to encourage people to stay downtown — and we did not see any Sunset District cups at Porchfest.

“All in all, we heard mostly positive things. We didn’t hear any negative feedback.”

The Henderson Chamber sponsored Porchfest this year and requested Saturday’s Sunset District activation.

“We’re going to have a debrief with all the license holders and public safety officers this week,” Gillham said. “If everyone is on board, we hope to do a six-week span of (Sunset District nights) every Friday and Saturday (this summer). But that will be up to the city manager’s office and what they approve.”

Downtown restaurant owners expressed satisfaction with the first Sunset District night.

“We had lots of folks interested in the cups,” Casey Todd, who owns Hometown Roots and Homer’s Barbecue on Second Street, reported. “I believe there were a lot of folks that took advantage of it while waiting (for a) table and exploring what was going on downtown. And then obviously the folks that were downtown for Porchfest. They were all over downtown before and after.”

“We also had the brewery (Henderson Brewing Co.) and Boucherie Winery set up in the parking lot of Homer’s as well as live entertainment that drew some people in,” Todd said. “We were a heck of a lot busier than I expected. It was great to see!”

“We had about 10 people utilize it (by requesting the Sunset District cups and wristband) Saturday night,” Rockhouse by the River co-owner Christy Osborn said.

“We had a good turnout but I don’t have an exact count,” Marcos Nicolas, owner of Tacoholics on First Street, said.

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“The Sunset District is a great way to promote downtown business collaboration,” Nicolas said. “It also promotes foot traffic and it’s a good way to engage tourism. I hope to see more projects like this in Henderson.”

“We had a bunch of people taking advantage of it, and I don’t know that they were going to the Porchfest — just walking around downtown, enjoying it,” Rodney Thomas of Rookies and On Deck said.

The Sunset District begins at Elm Street between First and Third streets and extends to Audubon

Mill Park, but does not include the remainder of the Henderson Riverfront, including the children’s water feature.

Also excluded are Central Park and the adjacent grounds of the Henderson County Courthouse and Henderson Municipal Center as well as the residential area in the 100 block of Washington Street across from the Henderson County Public Library. Excluding those areas from the Sunset District is intended to keep playgrounds and the water feature alcohol-free for the benefit of children playing there, city PIO Blanford said.

Alcoholic beverages must be contained in specially branded cups that will be available from city-licensed alcohol vendors including the future Cap & Cork, Homer’s Barbecue, Hometown Roots, On Deck, Rockhouse on the River, Rookies and Tacoholics, according to the city website. Boucherie Winery and Henderson Brewing Co. will also have authority to sell beverages in the special cups when they are operating at Sunset District events downtown.

Open carry will be permitted from 4 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights when requested by a sanctioned downtown event, with alcohol sales in Sunset District cups to end by 11 p.m.

“This has been a long time coming and there have been a lot of hours from different organizations and the city that have contributed to making this a possibility, and I think the opportunity is going to continue to grow,” said Lindsay Locasto, president of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce.

Looking ahead, it isn’t certain how often organizers of existing special events in Downtown Henderson will ask the city to invoke the Sunset District provisions to permit open carry. The city requires event organizers to apply for a special permit to do so.

The W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival, which returns June 14-17, won’t be requesting Sunset District open carry to be in effect.

“I don’t think everything (with the Sunset District regulations) was finalized until after we got all our paperwork (to the city for this year’s festival) anyway, but there are not plans at this time to activate” the Sunset District provisions for the festival, Handy Co-Chairman Steve Gold said last week.

The Handy Festival has long sponsored a fenced-off beer garden adjacent to Audubon Mill Park, the home of the event, that generates important revenue for financing the free four-day blues festival. But organizers have always discouraged alcohol consumption in the park itself, both to maintain the event’s family-friendly reputation as well as to observe the city’s prohibition of alcohol in the park — unless the new Sunset District provisions are in effect.

Meanwhile, Brian Bishop, one of the organizers of the two-year-old SummerFest live music event in May on Second Street, said he’s uncertain whether that event would apply for Sunset District status. Like Handy, SummerFest sponsors a beer garden that generates revenue for the free event, which could be impacted by competition from open carry from nearby restaurants.

Still, the chamber president remains positive about the prospects for the Sunset District, which under state law is known as an “entertainment destination center,” or EDC.

“The Sunset District was not invented just to be a time to drink, but more of a branding for the area of our downtown,” Locasto said. “Our community has the best sunsets in the Tri-state and this was our way of coming up with a very original name for this district rather than the ‘Henderson EDC’.”

“‘Entertainment destination center’ is the legal term for it,” city PIO Blanford said. “But for marketing purposes, we thought to call it the Sunset District to allow us to market that area. A lot of people go to see the sunset” in that area, often posting photos on Facebook and other social media.

Thanks to a new state law that takes effect June 29, other businesses located within the Sunset District EDC may permit customers to carry in an alcoholic beverage purchased from a retail drink licensee in the district.

“We’re going to meet with retail shops” to see if any are interested in staying open late on nights when the Sunset District provisions are in effect, Gillham said.

That new law would be particularly applicable during the annual Art Hop event, which takes place downtown on a Friday night in the fall, City Attorney Dawn Kelsey said.

Each person who visits the Sunset District is expected to adhere to the following rules:

• Alcohol may be carried, possessed and consumed on Downtown Henderson sidewalks within the boundaries of the Sunset District, as marked by the 32 “No Alcoholic Beverages Beyond This Point” signs that have been posted around the central business district.

• Alcohol must be purchased from a permitted licensed alcohol vendor within the Sunset District.

• Alcohol purchased in one alcoholic licensee establishment may not be taken into another alcohol licensee establishment.

• No alcohol may be brought into the Sunset District from outside sources.

• Patrons walking with their beverage must use the Sunset District-approved cups and must wear a Sunset District arm band issued at the time of purchase of the alcohol.

• Alcohol may not be taken outside the Sunset District for any reason.

• The Sunset District patrons must walk on sidewalks and may only cross streets using designated crosswalks within the Sunset District.

• All state and local laws will be strictly enforced in the Sunset District including public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

• All alcohol vendors shall refuse to sell or provide the city-approved cup with alcohol to any person who is visibly intoxicated.

• All alcohol vendors shall refuse to sell or provide the city-approved cup with alcohol to any person who has not presented an ID proving they are at least 21 years of age and received a Sunset District arm band.

• All cups must be disposed of properly in waste or recycling containers. Littering is prohibited in the Sunset District and will be strictly enforced.

The rules can be accessed from the QR code on Sunset District cups and signs as well as at www.hendersonky.gov/379/Sunset-District.

“We’re excited to see the results of this first year with the Sunset District, both for the business community and for residents and visitors of the area,” the Henderson Chamber’s Gillham said. “Our downtown has gained so much momentum recently, with new businesses opening, beautification projects, events, etc.

“Giving people one more reason to hang around and enjoy our beautiful summer sunsets and lively evenings downtown could be a win for everyone.”

“I think the way we’re going about it the correct way,” Rookies’ Thomas, who is also a city commissioner, said. “We’ll probably all sit down next week and talk about what went right, what went wrong, what we can fix. We’re in the experimental phase.”

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Downtown Henderson restaurants pleased with first Sunset District night