The planning for a designated outdoor refreshment area in downtown Fort Wayne, Ind., took years with multiple partners in order to approve these areas throughout the state. The city partnered with Visit Fort Wayne, Downtown Fort Wayne and Greater Fort Wayne Inc. to make this new DORA a reality. It was launched in May and has been a success with both businesses and the community.

The city first began to consider and work toward a DORA as a form of community engagement. Particularly during the warmer months, there are many festivals, concerts and gatherings in downtown Fort Wayne. This DORA would allow more people to share experiences and connect during such gatherings. Regarding tourism, a DORA also works to enhance the city’s appeal and attract visitors with its unique and cultural offerings. While walking around the downtown area, the ability to enjoy a local alcoholic beverage at the same time increases the attraction for visitors.

While researching a DORA, the city and Downtown Fort Wayne teamed up to speak with advisors and business owners to see how it could work, how it could impact local businesses and the best location for such an area. The city then looked into local businesses with permanent and temporary liquor licenses as well as event venues that may want to be included. The city came up with boundary lines, a sanitation plan and a safety plan. A resolution was then written and presented to the city council to have DORAs added into the city ordinances.

After the city council approved the resolution and the ordinance was created, the city then had to request approval for the downtown DORA through the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. To achieve that, the city submitted an application for approval of the refreshment area, completed designation forms received by the municipality from retail permittees and temporary vendors to participate in the refreshment area, a copy of the ordinance signed by the municipality and a map of the refreshment area with designated retail permittees located inside to the commission.

Downtown Fort Wayne worked closely with the city, community development and local businesses for the rollout and day-to-day operations of the program, including marketing, promotional materials, streetscape infrastructure and the like.

Preston Wallace, Downtown Fort Wayne director of marketing, stated, “The goal was always to launch around a high foot traffic holiday when people are already intentional in coming downtown. Our initial launch day was St. Patrick’s Day. However, we realized we didn’t have all our ducks in a row for education, streetscape, etc. We also ran into a production snag with the DORA cups. So we pushed it back to May 5, Cinco de Mayo.”

Initially, 50,000 DORA cups were ordered for businesses to use for to-go beverage orders within the DORA. With the media coverage and public hype, it was realized that it likely wouldn’t be enough to get the city through the peak summer season, so 50,000 more cups were ordered. There are now just under 40,000 cups in inventory. Fort Wayne has two corporate sponsors. Brightmark works with the recycling and another sponsor works on the branding, inventory, storage and distribution so that Wallace simply has to order on an online store.

The DORA promotes responsible drinking while enjoying the downtown area. It provides a designated area to have an adult beverage with specific guidelines to ensure safety is of the utmost importance. The DORA map spans approximately 12 city blocks between Calhoun Street and Harrison Street from Promenade Park to Parkview Field. The 22 participating businesses are marked with signage in the front. Boundaries are also marked throughout the city.

One of the greatest challenges the city has faced so far is finding the ideal locations to put recycling cans and garbage containers to prevent additional litter in the downtown area. Another pushback has been using plastic material for the DORA cups. However, ultimately, that material was chosen because of cost. In order to help with concerns regarding environmental stewardship, the city has teamed up with Brightmark, a local recycling agency, which will collect the plastic cups and turn them into reimagined products. Downtown Fort Wayne has been working on a post-launch initiative to encourage patrons to practice good stewardship and recycle the DORA cups in the specifically marked DORA recycling bins.

While Wallace would have preferred more time to roll out education to both the businesses and public, the timeframe of getting everything compiled came together at the last minute and timing is crucial. The city did not want to miss out on the peak summer season, so it moved forward with the education and promotion already in place.

“Overall, the program has been a massive success,” Wallace emphasized. “The community has been extremely responsive in a positive way. We are really excited and encouraged with the response received.” This allows the city to support multiple small businesses at once with a positive economic impact.

For other cities looking to implement a DORA, Fort Wayne suggests talking to businesses that will likely participate since they already have an understanding of the liquor laws. The city also recommends having a safety and sanitation plan in place before launching the program. Wallace mentioned the Fort Wayne DORA will not be a copy and paste for another market. Each city will have its own challenges and hurdles to overcome.

“Make sure you have enough time to work with your approved vendors and education on the public side of things to get set up for success,” Wallace recommended. “You’ll eventually run into a million ifs, ands and buts on how you should launch it. Make sure you have great partners in your corner with corporate sponsorship and city government and a good rapport with the businesses the DORA is ultimately benefiting. Address the elephant in the room. Anything to do with alcohol will likely have some push back about not being family friendly.”

To learn more about the Fort Wayne DORA, visit www.dorainthefort.com.

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