By Maria Rakoczy

Monday’s Madison City Council meeting ended with officially designating Town Madison as an Arts & Entertainment District. Though Huntsville currently has five of these districts, Town Madison is the first A&E District in the city of Madison.

The boundaries of the district extend east and west from Zeirdt Road to Toyota Stadium and north and south from I-565 to Town Madison Boulevard with additional outparcels south of Town Madison Boulevard and southwest of Toyota Field. In total, the district is 125 acres, well shy of the state’s 160-acre limit. As in other districts, signage including sidewalk markings and lamppost banners will indicate the boundaries to patrons. The district will mostly comprise of the commercial area of Town Madison that includes restaurants like Moe’s Barbecue, Taco Mama, J. Alexander’s, Saza, and others.

Participating patrons in the district will sport signature Kelly green cups bearing the Town Madison name. The City’s Principal Planner Matt Davidson reported that the developer, Breland Companies, has agreed to pay for the cups. The district is expected to open in late January pending approval by Alabama Beverage Control.

“We wanted to maximize the opportunities for there to be arts and entertainment in the streets and to maximize revenue and make sure all the businesses are successful. Athens has entertainment districts. Huntsville has them, but we don’t have any in Madison. So, this will be an interesting opportunity for us,” City Planner Mary Beth Broeren stated.

The district will function under the typical operating hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays. It is unclear at this time which businesses will opt to participate in the district, but those that are interested may purchase a permit from the city for $50.