Rosa Parks Square is no place for a beer festival, former Macon Mayor Jack Ellis says

A day before a beer festival in downtown Macon’s Rosa Parks Square, friends of the park gathered to oppose the event, contending that such a festival disrespects the life and legacy of the civil rights leader.

“We do not want Rosa Parks Square turned into a beer garden,” former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis said at a news conference in the park Friday. “We got word that they’ve had one before, unbeknownst to me. ... We would ask that they respectfully cease and desist from having any beer festivals or beer gatherings of any nature in Rosa Parks Square.”

Ellis, who said he learned earlier this week about the Just Tap’d craft beer festival, made the announcement with several members of the NAACP standing beside him, including County Commissioner Elaine Lucas. He said Parks didn’t drink beer or any other alcohol.

Saturday will mark the third annual beer festival in the park.

“Now is not the time, especially on the eve of the Pan African Festival in our community,” Ellis said. “There’s something wrong with that picture.”

There are plenty of other parks where the festival could be held, Ellis said, adding that he had not reached out to anyone at Just Tap’d, located adjacent to the park, to talk about other options.

Lucas asked Ellis what could be done about the situation, and Ellis said he’d expressed his objection to the County Commission in the past.

Lucas said she would work on drafting a resolution to ban such events in the park bearing the civil rights icon’s name.

Chris Floore, a spokesman for the county, said the Parks and Beautification Department approved the event and Mayor Robert Reichert signed off on it.

“It’s all permitted and ready to go,” Floore said. “(Just Tap’d) has done everything they need to do to hold this, and again, it’s their third year. They’re expecting several hundred people.”

Alcohol is banned from all public parks in Bibb County unless someone requests special permission from the mayor and the parks department, Floore said. Even then, extra trash cans, street closures and sheriff’s deputies for security are required.

“One of the things we’ve been trying to do is make downtown a more vibrant place,” Floore said. “This is one of the festivals that does that. ... Because people are using it, more people are exposed to the information on the monuments and the memorials.”

The park, which doubled its green space in 2012 after a parking lot was removed, is in the process of being redesigned with public input.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Rosa Parks Square is no place for a beer festival, former Macon Mayor Jack Ellis says."