CANTON, Ohio — The City of Canton is reinventing itself. In the heart of downtown, you'll find entertainment venues, retail shops and restaurants that span across more than 280 acres of land.

"In the last 10 years, there have been 30 new small businesses built here, there's been a hundred new pieces of public art," said Robb Hankins, CEO of Arts in Stark.

The city is pursuing an application for an entertainment district which would authorize new liquor permits for newer businesses.

  • 15 businesses will be able to apply for a liquor license for a little over $2,300
  • It will help boost small businesses and draw more crowds to downtown Canton
  • The proposal is awaiting approval from the State Dept. of Commerce

"Many cities like Canton and many other large cities actually have their allotment of liquor permits already used up. It creates new permits which don't previously exist," said Mayor Tom Bernabei, City of Canton. "Things are happening downtown, I think everybody is looking forward, and we thought this was just one more step to further enhance that."

If approved by the state, 15 businesses will be able to apply for a liquor license for a little over $2,300. 

Business owners, such as Nicole Dietz, will be able to serve wine and other alcohol at her upscale artisan cheese shop.

"So many liquor licenses will be now released into our quota so we can have far more availability than before, we don't have to buy private licenses from another license holder, we can buy directly from the state for a much more reasonable price point," said Dietz, owner of Fromage du Monde. "This is going to be a huge revenue boost for us. It's going to increase everything for us, it's going to increase our staff, our revenue, it will all in all build on our business model and take it to the next level."

City leaders say creating an entertainment district will transform its downtown and prove it can measure up with the rest of the state.

"Cleveland, Columbus, pick your downtown, we're all fighting the same battles. They're fighting for, I would say, all the downtowns in Ohio, but certainly downtown Canton, the hall of fame city, is about to reinvent itself," said Hankins.

The entertainment district application is awaiting approval from the State Department of Commerce.