To kick off the Downtown Warsaw Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Warsaw and the city of Warsaw had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — Friday night, May 17, was the first night of the 19th Fat & Skinny Tire Festival, May’s Third Friday and it also was the first time for the Downtown Warsaw Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area.

To kick off the D.O.R.A., Main Street Warsaw, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, city of Warsaw and businesses had a ribbon-cutting ceremony downtown.

“One thing that will be really nice is that people can get a refreshment at one of the downtown businesses and not have to be in what they call ‘Beer Jail.’ You don’t have to be in the tent, or you don’t have to be in a sectioned-off area. That way if someone wants to enjoy a nice meal at Mad Anthony’s, and they want to walk down to Third Friday … they can do that. They don’t have to be confined to a certain area. You don’t always have to put up a tent. You don’t always have to section that off,” said Scott Wiley, chamber member relations manager.

He said they’re trying to make downtown Warsaw a place where people gather, listen to music and for it to be a destination place for people to hang out.

“We hope that will help in that,” Wiley said.

In July 2023, the state passed the legislation for Indiana communities to create D.O.R.As. A municipality can create up to seven areas within its jurisdiction allowing citizens to purchase alcohol at designated establishments and consume the beverage anywhere within the D.O.R.A. boundaries.

Winona Lake Town Board approved on second reading an ordinance creating a D.O.R.A. on Dec. 19, and the Warsaw Common Council approved an ordinance March 4 on second reading. Winona Lake had their D.O.R.A. approved Feb. 23 by the state, with the city of Warsaw receiving approval for its D.O.R.A. April 29.

Currently, there’s nine businesses that are part of Warsaw’s first D.O.R.A., though more could be added by the Warsaw Common Council.

At Friday’s ribbon-cutting, City Planner Justin Taylor said, “This will be the grand opening, I guess, for the D.O.R.A. We don’t know how many participants will be serving alcohol for the D.O.R.A. tonight, but we’re hoping that there’s a decent number of businesses downtown that will take advantage of this new feature.”

He said they’re really excited to have the D.O.R.A., especially for events like the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival.

“It will enable businesses to serve alcohol, and then patrons with beverages in approved cups will be able to take that drink out and maybe explore downtown without having to limit themselves to just staying in one business or one area downtown,” Taylor stated.

As part of the state requirement for D.O.R.As, an approved D.O.R.A. has to have signage around the perimeter and that was done by the city earlier this week.

“There’s also maps explaining where the D.O.R.A. ends, so we just want people to be very aware of where that limit is so they don’t violate the boundaries of the D.O.R.A.,” Taylor said.

The downtown D.O.R.A’s border begins at the intersection of Lake and Main streets, runs east along Main Street, south along the west side of Indiana Street, turns west along the north section of Jefferson Street, turns north on Columbia Street, heads east on Center Street, turns north on Lake Street and terminates at the intersection of Lake and Main streets.

Each vendor participating in the D.O.R.A. that has been approved by the city council has a special cup provided by Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Warsaw that shows the boundary of the D.O.R.A. and a QR Code for more information.

Wiley said Main Street Warsaw bought about 5,000 cups from Tranter Graphics for the start of the D.O.R.A. All of the merchants then can purchase their own D.O.R.A. cups.

“The cups are unique in that they have D.O.R.A. on them. They also have a map on where you can go within the DORA, and then they also have a QR Code that you can pull up on your phone,” he said.

As a reminder, Taylor said all the laws regarding alcohol use are still in place. “To be a vendor in the D.O.R.A., you have to have a state-approved liquor license, so this isn’t just willy-nilly, it’s very structured, but it’s just another way to enhance the liquor licenses that already exist downtown,” he said.

“Enjoy responsibly,” he said. “We have a great population here in Warsaw and I think everybody’s going to be very responsible and respectful of the new policy that we have in place.