Aaron Doster / AP
There s no question Opening Day 2021 was a strange one. In addition to below-normal temperatures, there also were below-level crowds due to COVID-19 capacity limits. The Findlay Market Opening Day Parade was canceled for the second year in a row, but there were still plenty of crowds to be found.
Before the first pitch at 4:10 p.m., people gathered at The Banks, which had just recently been granted DORA status or Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area allowing people to carry open beverage containers, including alcohol, outside the grounds of restaurants and bars. Despite city leaders urging fans maintain social distancing and even putting some measures in place to encourage it, people largely stood should-to-shoulder and maskless before Great American Ball Park opened its gates.
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Chris Bournea
ThisWeek
A “Bexley Patio,” allowing participating restaurants along East Main Street to expand outdoor seating areas, will be created if Bexley City Council approves Ordinance 10-21.
Mayor Ben Kessler submitted the application for a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) on Feb. 25.
On March 30, council held the third reading and public hearing but voted 7-0 to table the ordinance until the April 13 meeting to allow for further discussion and public input.
Kessler said he initially proposed the concept in May 2020 to encourage social distancing among restaurant patrons amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Since then, Kessler said he and has worked with Matt Klingler, council’s Recreation and Parks Committee chair, to develop the concept.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said it was “troubling” to see the large crowds of mostly unmasked patrons this past weekend at the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area at The Banks in Cincinnati. I saw the picture of the Dora a few days ago, and look, it s troubling, the governor said during his statewide COVID-19 briefing on Thursday.
DeWine said it is some relief that the Dora is outside, but “it would not be a place where I would advise my family to go. It would not be a place where I would go.”
The Dora at The Banks spans 85 acres of Downtown Cincinnati from the Heritage Bank Center (formerly US Bank Arena) to Paul Brown Stadium and from Mehring Way to Second Street.