Flats East Bank Sets Sight on Becoming Cleveland’s Second Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area

As plans to make East 4th Street the city’s first Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area sail along toward approval, the Flats East Bank has its eyes on becoming the second, perhaps pursuing the effort officially as early as this summer.

The momentum, said Lauren Wheatley, director of marketing at the Flats East Bank, began last August for a move that would allow alcohol to be consumed outside and year-round from designated plastic cups sold at the establishments located there.

Not only does the Flats boast far more space than East 4th, which is a mere 400-feet long, but it also claims one of the city’s greatest assets next door in the Cuyahoga River.

For Wheatley, who immediately began working on plans to DORA-fy the East Bank when she started her job last summer, that crown jewel is a chief motivating factor.

“This will allow us open up our property, and allow people to come down and enjoy being on the water,” Wheatley told Scene. “Which is truly, I think, what Flats East Bank is known for and should be known for.”

There are pros and cons to DORAs. While the rush of drinking like Europeans has been proven to bolster business districts, DORAs often come with necessary budget hikes, for ramped up security, and those special, plastic cups.

Though Wheatley said Flats East Bank has yet to bring their proposal to the city, she said their plans mimic those found in the Van Aken District and Akron, areas Wheatley used, she said, “for counsel.”

A Flats DORA would most likely extend from FWD Nightclub and Margaritaville on Front Ave. all the way to the Frozen Daiquiri Bar on the south end of Old River Rd. It’s unclear whether or not the area would include restaurants east of the Waterfront Line, like Lago or Sora.

Greg Sears, executive chef of Lindey’s Lakehouse, which lies smack dab in the middle of the East Bank, said he thinks the addition of a public drinking space could ramp up sales at Lindey’s, which has still yet to climb to pre-COVID numbers.

Though Sears smiles at the memory of drinking inside DORAs in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, where he used to live, a list of questions come up at the thought of one here: Will minors abuse the system? Will Sunday tailgaters in the nearby parking lot bother to buy drinks? Will added police damper the good vibes?

“It’s bizarre with these things,” Sears said, standing in his white chef’s coat on Lindey’s sunlit patio. He pointed to the sidewalk. “You could stand right here with a margarita, but as soon as you walk on the other side of that fence right now, it’s a crime. People want freedom.”

Sears clarified his stance: this will be good for business.

“I want to keep people here and get them to spend as much money as they can, of course,” he said.

As Ohio cities and towns consider DORAs, some, who live within the possible boundaries, wince at living within the party.

Which is the case for Claire Penney and Martine McLaughlin, who moved into the nearby Bridgeview Apartments at the end of last year. As recent college graduates, the notion of DORA brings up prime memories of High St. day-drinking in Athens, Ohio, a spring festival near Kent State. Of a general revelry.

But, now with demanding shift work—Penney as a bar back at Tremont’s Barrio, McLaughlin as a nurse at the Cleveland Clinic—the reality of their backyard being alcohol-friendly most of the day seems, to them, a tiny bit worrisome.

“Peoples’ confidence level changes when they drink, you know?” Penney, 23, said while sipping a lavender cocktail at the 27 Club on Thursday afternoon. “Safety is a factor.”

“There’s good and bad [with DORA],” McLaughlin, 23, added. “I think there would have to be like a lot of regulations, and that’s really hard to maintain. You can’t regulate drunk people.”

The Flats have seen a fair share of drunken escapades, but there are no studies that show DORAs increase the risk of alcohol fatalities. And Wheatley said plans, once formalized, will be designed to keep everyone safe.

“We really want to do this right,” she said.

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This article appears in May 3-17, 2023.