Bill allows campus arts venues to serve alcohol

Wine and beer soon could make their way into the hands of theater patrons and concertgoers on campus.

An N.C. Senate bill would allow UNC-system arts centers to sell alcohol during events.

The bill would not allow hard alcohol to be sold, nor would it apply to athletic facilities.

A version of the bill went to the Senate on Tuesday, but the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Charlie Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg, said one Senator still needed to review some aspects of the bill that he felt were unclear.

“It affects one of the senators, and he wants some clarification on it,” Dannelly said.

“You honor your other members if it’s reasonable, and that was a reasonable request.”

The sale of alcohol at UNC-Chapel Hill venues, such as the Paul Green Theater and the newly renovated Memorial Hall, could make the centers more on par with attendees’ requests.

David Hammond, the artistic director of UNC-CH’s PlayMakers Repertory Company, said guests often ask for a glass of wine at intermission.

“It think it’d be perfectly nice,” he said. “It’s a service most people expect when they come to a theater, actually.”

With 1,434 seats, Memorial Hall falls under the bill’s stipulation of seating 2,000 or less, and music by acts such as the Hall’s opener Tony Bennett could be complemented well by a glass of wine.

Dannelly said he supported the bill after David Dunn, associate vice chancellor for alumni affairs at UNC-Charlotte, wanted the legislation so the school’s art center could compete with local venues.

“He’s in a very competitive area for attracting adults to performing arts,” Dannelly said.

But some of the bill’s opponents worry that placing alcohol in a campus environment would encourage underage drinking.

Hammond said the theater would abide by the law, making illegal drinking unlikely.

“If we’re allowed to sell it, we’re certainly not going to sell it to underage people,” he said.

Dannelly also said he was under the impression students would not be a part of events where alcohol was sold.

“I was told that no students would be involved,” he said.

He said it was possible the venues would have separate nights for students to come see the shows.

And allowing alcohol is unlikely to make any patrons drunk, Hammond said.

“No one’s going to come to the theater and have a glass of wine before the play or have a glass of wine during intermission and leave the theater inebriated,” he said.

“It’s just not possible.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.