By Raegan Holland
Fayetteville, Ark. — The City Council on Sept. 7 approved the removal of a sunset clause for the Outdoor Refreshment Area, garnering overwhelming support from various local bars and police force.
According to the City of Fayetteville Arkansas webpage, the Outdoor Refreshment Area (ORA) program is open seven days a week and includes 61 participating bars, restaurants and hotels. Within the recently expanded program boundaries, participating businesses can offer customers to-go alcoholic beverages they can carry and consume.
During its first year and height of COVID-19 restrictions, the Outdoor Refreshment Area program kept several businesses like Maxine’s Taproom and Pinpoint Fayetteville financially afloat. Allowing them to serve customers outdoors while maintaining social distancing and most importantly, stay open for business.
Hannah Withers, co-owner of Maxine’s Taproom, sat on the city’s economic task force that helped pass the original program ordinance. With a small bar, zero windows and no outdoor seating, Maxine’s Taproom was unable to offer guests a socially distanced experience, moreover stay open, without the outdoor drinking program, she said.
“It was a make or break for us.” Withers said. “I honestly don’t know if we’d still be here if we hadn’t had the ORA to get creative with for the last year and a half.”
Other participating Outdoor Refreshment Area businesses include Pinpoint Fayetteville. Bo Counts, owner of Pinpoint Fayetteville, said the program offered financial opportunities during the pandemic to businesses that were not able to sell their product online or to-go.
“Bars were one of those things that were kind of overlooked and were basically shuddered for an entire seven months,” Counts said. “It allowed some of the bars the opportunity to sell things outside of their patio or out of their front door and keep that social distance, keep from having to have people come inside which was very taboo in that first year.”
In addition to helping local businesses, Fayetteville Police Sgt. Anthony Murphy said the program’s expanded boundaries have helped officers patrol the entertainment district more effectively.
“It spreads out the crowd,” Murphy said. “It’s also helped businesses down there give the people who choose not to wear a mask, the option of staying outside.”
Withers said she thinks the way we all gather in spaces will be forever changed.
“I was proud to live in a place that was thinking progressively about how to adjust for small businesses,” Withers said.