Foley to consider extended hours for downtown bars

Foley to consider extended hours for downtown bars

An entertainment district has been proposed for about 160 acres in Foley along Alabama 59 and U.S 98 as a way to allow restaurants and bars to remain open later than in other areas.
Residents and downtown business owners will be tasked with creating a plan to increase opportunities for entertainment while preserving the nature of the downtown area. Traffic and parking are also issues that planners will have to consider.
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said Foley already has an entertainment district at the OWA Park and Resort. He said the district has been good for business and has not had a problem with increased crime rates. He said Orange Beach’s entertainment district at TheWharf has also gone well.
“They’re not unknown here in Baldwin County,” Hellmich said. “This is not so much as to create a party place but more so to create a vibrant downtown at night. And I think that’s what we need.
“The bigger problem we’ve got is to make sure that we can modify the traffic, the 10 million cars that go through Foley every year,” Hellmich added. “So that’s a bigger problem.”
Under Alabama law, an entertainment district can include 160 acres, one quarter of a square mile. A previous proposal for a Foley district included the area along McKenzie Street between about Rose Avenue and Myrtle Avenue and along Laurel Avenue from Chicago Street west to Pine Street.
.