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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – The Columbiana LIVE, Arts and Entertainment District is now live as of Monday, May 1.

The Columbiana City Council passed a resolution for establishment of an arts and entertainment district in Columbiana entitled “Columbiana LIVE” during a council meeting on April 4.

Columbiana LIVE allows for people to exit bars and restaurants with open containers of alcohol and walk freely within the entertainment district.

“The goal is to bring more people to Columbiana to restaurants and our local shops,” said Ali Payne, manager of community affairs and senior services for the city of Columbiana. “We hope that the arts entertainment district will do that.”

Payne also said the entertainment district correlates with the many public events that the city of Columbiana holds.

“We think that it will be a benefit for our events,” she said. “We want to be able to do more things and this helps.”

One event that will benefit from the new district is Discover Shelby Fest.

“It was great event, but we were really constricted with what we could do,” Payne said. “We really hope that this will open the wine festival up to the entire district.”

The city council was able to pass the resolution, in part, due to the presence of four local businesses with an ABC license, including the Shelby County Arts Council, Blue Agave Cantina, Just a Tish, Wine & More and The Provincial Pub which are all located within the new Columbiana LIVE district.

“This is something that Columbiana has wanted for a really long time and we just did not have the businesses in place so that we could make it happen,” Payne said.

Alabama State Representative Corley Ellis expressed his enthusiasm for the new district.

“This is an exciting time for Columbiana,” Ellis said. “There are a lot of great things happening and there is a positive energy here. Columbiana has a thriving downtown area and having an entertainment district will certainly compliment that.”