An increase in the number of package liquor licenses available in Maysville could be a boost to tourism, according to City Manager Matt Wallingford.
The city was approached by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control division of the Public Protection Cabinet, Wallingford said, with the suggestion that Maysville might fit in well with a similar quote increase request from Frankfort, he said.
City commissioners met in a special meeting last week to consider the proposal. With a change in laws becoming effective in January, Wallingford said there was some urgency to get the process started for what could be a three-month time frame. Once the new regulations go into effect, that time line could be extended to a year, he said.
Wallingford said adding another license availability would benefit the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center’s Old Pogue Experience, housed in the restored Limestone Building on the campus of KYGMC.
Currently, the Old Pogue Experience provides visitors with an opportunity for a tasting of the Old Pogue Bourbon, distilled in Maysville. A packaged liquor license would mean bottles of bourbon could be sold to guests.
Wallingford said he talked over the proposal with C.J. Hunter, the museum’s executive director who put the organization’s support behind the idea.
Currently there are three active packaged liquor licenses in use in Maysville — Kroger, Rite-Aid and Kentucky Liquor, Wallingford said. There is also one inactive license in the city and another in the county, he said.
Wallingford said commissioners approved a resolution for the request in the quota increase and that, along with letters of support from city, county and state officials and the museum were forwarded to Frankfort.
