Owensboro’s downtown entertainment district could soon allow open containers every day of the week, under a proposed ordinance that would eliminate current restrictions tied to special events and weekends.
City Manager Nate Pagan presented the first reading of Ordinance 10-2025 during Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, outlining how the City’s open container policy has evolved since it was first introduced in 2018.
“In 2018, the Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance creating an entertainment destination center, which allows alcohol to be open carry downtown in the green cups we’re all familiar with,” Pagan said.
Initially, open containers were only permitted during special events. In 2020, the City amended the ordinance to allow open carry on weekends and, upon request by businesses, during weekday events.
The proposed change would permit visitors to carry alcoholic drinks in designated disposable cups throughout the district’s common areas — including Smothers Park, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, and the Owensboro Convention Center — at any time alcohol is legally sold by a business within the district.
“This will only streamline what happens now,” Pagan said. “Most other cities have gone to a 7-day-a-week type of structure for their entertainment destination center. This will make it easier for those events and easier for us to track, frankly.”
Businesses would still be required to serve those drinks in designated disposable cups, and sales from non-permanent locations would require proper licensing and written permission from the City. The City would retain authority to enforce boundaries, provide security, and restrict open containers during certain events if requested.
The ordinance will undergo a second reading and potential final approval on August 5.
