The city of St. Joseph will expand its downtown social district. During a Monday meeting, city commissioners heard a proposal from St. Joseph Today’s Amy Zapal. She said the request is to include more downtown businesses in the social district.
“Currently, the west side of Main Street goes just up until the east side of Lake Boulevard,” Zapal said. “This would expand that into Lake Bluff Park and then all the way down to the tracks by Silver Beach Pizza. The reason for that expansion is we have a beautiful parks, beautiful benches and a downtown master plan that underscores how important it is to activate our greenspaces.”
Silver Beach Pizza and the Boulevard Inn and Bistro could join the social district under the plan. Zapal also asked that the city approval for the district be extended to 2024 to be in line with the state law allowing the districts. Social districts are outdoor areas within which alcoholic drinks may be consumed. The commission approved one for downtown St. Joe this year, and the public safety department said it’s created no problems. Zapal said 6,400 cups were sold by participating businesses using the district this year. She said that amounted to $64,000 in revenue. After much discussion, commissioners approved the request.
