The Stadium Sports Bar has made some waves after posting the numbers of city officials for their customers to file complaints about current policies regarding their beer garden on game day.
The permit enables the popular campus-area bar to operate a beer garden until 10 p.m. for night games and 8 p.m. for games before 5 p.m., but it has been problematic for games running past 10 p.m.
The managers of Stadium Bar have requested a modification in their permit that would allow them to stay open later on those nights.
The Stadium Bar and Grill managers came under fire by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz after posting his phone number as well as the number of Ald. Robbie Webber, District 5, on their 15-foot LED screen the night of the Penn State Game.
Stadium head manager Jim Luedtke said they decided after the Ohio State game, which ran until 10:20 p.m., to post phone numbers to avoid dealing with customers’ questions. He added they got the numbers off the city of Madison’s website.
“So many people were confused as to why they were being kicked out of the beer garden the previous week at the Ohio State Game,” Luedtke said. “Everyone was looking at us like we had rocks for brains or something.”
A public hearing in December has yet to be confirmed with confusion between bar managers and city officials. The hearing was scheduled by the zone administrator, but Luedtke said the hearing is still a “maybe.”
Webber said though posting the numbers did not violate any rules, she would advise against such techniques in the future.
“They’re completely within their rights to post our phone numbers, but I would prefer that people not call when they’re mad,” she said.
Webber received angry voice messages following the Penn State game asking her why she was trying to close down the bar, but none of the messages explained what they were upset about.
In addition, Webber pointed out the scheduled hearing was put into place long before the Penn State game and the phone calls that night.
“I find the whole thing pretty silly,” Webber said. “If they want to make their views known, this is not a good way to do it. Why would this in any way influence my decision in a positive way? It’s just kind of ridiculous.”
Luedtke has been operating bars for a long time and said he is confused as to why their methods of operation are under scrutiny, especially since they have not done anything different in previous years.
City ordinances include having 10 Dane County sheriffs at the bar during games, checking IDs on the way in and making sure no one carries alcohol out of the beer garden.
“We run a very tight beer garden here,” Luedtke said. “We’re just trying to operate in peace and quiet. We don’t want this publicity or any other stuff going on.”
