Choose Marshall and the City of Marshall recently held a ribbon-cutting for the newly established Marshall Social District. The Social District allows patrons to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages from participating establishments and gather outdoors in designated “common areas.” The north and south alleys between Eagle Street and Jefferson Street have been approved as these areas.
The goal of the Social District is to provide restaurants an opportunity to serve a larger number of people while the state is limiting indoor capacity due to COVID-19. By creating a common area, customers may purchase food and drink from different restaurants and more safely gather outdoors. A map of the Social District, boundaries and permitted businesses can be found at choosemarshall.com/socialdistrict. Thanks to the BluFish Gives Back grant from BluFish Consulting, creative services for the logo, signage, and mapping were donated which allowed the limited funding for this project to go further.
“The City of Marshall is constantly trying to find creative ways to help local businesses during these trying times. The Marshall Social District is an opportunity to support restaurants by offering additional seating while providing a safer environment for our community and visitors,” stated Mayor Joe Caron.
Current participants include Schuler’s Restaurant & Pub, Copper Athletic Club, Broadway Grille, Grand River Brewery and Mike’s Place.
Creating the Social District common areas is also the first step in developing and beautifying Marshall’s downtown alleys. Choose Marshall is in the process of researching grants and other collaborative opportunities to host activities like art walks, a holiday market, mural contests and more in these areas.
The Marshall Social District is open Fridays from 4-11pm, Saturdays noon-11pm and Sundays noon-8pm. For more information about this and other Marshall events, visit www.choosemarshall.com or call 269-781-5163.
