Bar first to make use of space on Main St.

Bar patrons in downtown Houston finally can take to the street.

After more than seven months of discussion and navigation of Houston’s permit processes, the first on-street patio along Main Street opened this past weekend, as part of the city’s More Space program.

Workers completed the wooden walls and tables just in time for happy hour Friday at Little Dipper, in the 300 block of Main Street. Days earlier, city crews closed the street between Preston and Congress. The bar is owned by Scott Repass, who championed the More Space program with the Houston Downtown Management District, where Repass serves on the board.

Under the program, bars and restaurants along Main, devastated by the loss of business related to COVID, can create corrals on Main, which the city will close to traffic block-by-block, to offer more pandemic-friendly places to congregate. Diners and officials have been more receptive to allowing socially distanced groups to gather outside, where practical.

“This is one of those rare projects that solves several different problems at once,” Repass said. “It is a healthier option for people wanting to go out and for restaurants and bars wanting to serve them. It is an attraction that will bring people Downtown. And it makes use of an underutilized but beautiful part of Main Street.”

As businesses recover, officials urged people to remain vigilant despite the lifting of state mask requirements and the full opening of all businesses. Programs that ease into a return to normalcy help, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement from the downtown management district.

“We want Houstonians to grad