Beer sales at Adams Tennis Complex win initial approval, but councilman opposed

• Councilman Eddie Smotherman opposes drinking beer and then driving by Kids' Castle playground.
• MTSU professor touts university controlling beer drinking by selling product at sporting events.
• Murfreesboro sells beer at Old Fort Golf Club, which is near tennis courts.
• Proposed beer sales would only occur during adult times at the indoor tennis courts, official said.

Proposed beer sales at Adams Tennis Complex won initial endorsement from Murfreesboro officials recently.

"It’s something that patrons have asked for specifically," said Nate Williams, the city's parks and recreation director.

The Parks and Recreation Commission voted 6-2 for Williams and his staff to pursue the potential beer sales concept by the eight indoor tennis courts that opened in 2015. Commissioners Eddie Smotherman and Ricky Turner opposed.

"This is not a good road for Parks and Recreation," said Smotherman, who's also an elected city councilman. "We are encouraging people to improve their health, improve their condition, improve their physical stamina. Drinking is not the road to go down."

The seven-member council would have to approve a permit to allow beer sales by the indoor tennis courts near an Old Fort Golf Club that sells beer, Williams said.

"I think it’s worked well at the golf course," said Williams, adding that the Adams Tennis Complex would mirror the same policies as the golf club. "We think of this as an industry standard that patrons have asked for. Most (tennis) facilities provide this."

The city paid for most of the $5.8 million Adams Tennis Complex that opened in 2015. Middle Tennessee State University raised $1.8 million for a building that serves MTSU tennis teams. The local Christy-Houston Foundation also donated $500,000. 

Drinking near Kids' Castle playground

Smotherman also raised concerns about people driving by Kids' Castle playground after drinking beer at nearby Adams Tennis Complex.

"I just foresee the opportunity here for a real fiasco to take place," Smotherman said. "I think it’s a horrible precedent to set for the Parks and Recreation Department. I think it’s a bad example of what we want our children to grow up to be."

If people want to drink beer after being on the courts at Adams Tennis Complex, they could drive to nearby full-service restaurants on Old Fort Parkway, Smotherman said.

"It is a recreational facility," said Smotherman, adding he does not view Adams Tennis Complex as being like a country club serving members. "It is not a bar. It is not a tavern. It is not a place to go and relax and dine and have a few beers with your friends. I think it’s a bad precedent to set."

Turner also expressed concerns that regular beer sales will spread to other parks and recreation locations in the city.

"If you do it for one, you have to do it for all," Turner said. 

Controlling beer drinkers

Beer sales would be promoted during times adults are using the indoor courts, said Gary Arbit, the facilities supervisor at Adams Tennis Complex.

"The last few years we’ve gotten several requests to sell beer," Arbit told the commissioners. "We definitely don’t want to permit it during our youth times."

Williams told the commissioners that MTSU also supports selling beer at a facility used by MTSU's tennis teams.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Charles Apigian, who works as a professor at MTSU, said his university has better control of those drinking beer since allowing sales at games.

"I don’t see it as an issue," said Apigian, the co-director of MTSU's Data Science Institute at the Jones College of Business.

Apigian joined five other commissioners to support the beer sales concept. The others are Councilman Rick LaLance, retired MTSU administrator Gloria Bonner, Eddie Miller, Don Turner and Oakland High assistant principal Tim Roediger. 

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What should the government policy be on beer sales? Reach Scott Broden at sbroden@dnj.com or 615-278-5158. Follow him on Twitter @ScottBroden.