A new social district could be coming to part of downtown Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A new social district could be coming to an area of downtown Wilmington next year if city council votes to approve a pilot program testing the idea. 

Co-Owner of Brooklyn Cafe Tara English is teaming up with Goat & Compass Owner Scott Wagner to present the idea to council. 

Social districts allow patrons visiting bars or restaurants to leave the business with an alcoholic drink in hand and consume that beverage outside. Though, patrons cannot bring a drink from one establishment into another. 

The proposed pilot program would run on Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. 

The social district would span 10 blocks in the Brooklyn Arts District along 4th St., running from Flytrap Brewing to Pizzeria Don Luca.  

Businesses would need to use plastic cups for to-go containers with a label showing that the cup contains alcohol. Labels would be sold to businesses by the city. 

English says other businesses in the Brooklyn Arts District expressed excitement for the idea.  

“We have increased all of our events over the last couple years and we’ve gained a lot of popularity and notoriety because of our event,” English said. “The Coffee Crawl, the Art Fest, Altzealea, Margarita Crawl, and it just made sense to bring a social district to the community.”  

If approved, Wilmington would join more than 50 cities in North Carolina with social districts, including Raleigh, Durham, Clayton, and Whiteville to name a few.  

We wanted to know what residents in the area think about the idea.  

“I think it’s a great idea, you know, great for the community to be able to go from place to place and get a feel for every place around,” one resident said. 

“It might facilitate some commerce in the sense that if I’m grabbing a beer at the Goat & Compass, maybe I wander over to Bottega and get a glass of wine,” another resident added. 

“It’s very nice to have multiple places that you can walk to and get to and take your drink with you,” one resident said. 

English says she hopes Wilmington will join cities across the state in adopting a social district, citing opportunity for growth and increased foot traffic for small local businesses. 

“We still have to go in front of city council, we’re hoping that they see the benefit of the social district for Wilmington as much as we do,” English said. 

English notes she and Wagner have been in touch with city staff to work out a date to present their idea to council. 

They haven’t confirmed which meeting that will be, but say they hope to pitch the idea in January for the pilot program to start just in time for the Brooklyn Arts District’s Coffee Crawl, which begins February 1.