A relatively new addition to the Martin night life, Slide and Ride Saloon, made local headlines on St. Patrick’s Day as it took the City of Martin to court fighting a recent denial for the venue to host live bull riding.
Though many elements must be taken into account for this particular debate, UTM students seem to be strongly against the notion.
In a survey of 33 students, 19 were either moderately or strongly against the night club hosting such events. Of those 19, 17 went on to say that the presence of live bulls would negatively impact their likelihood of going.
“I feel like having live bulls in a bar is not sanitary, and the smell that will come from these bulls will definitely not make me want to go to Slide and Ride Saloon anymore,” said Jacie Pride, a senior music major. “Coming from a more urban area, the smell of livestock is definitely not one that I think is appealing, and I would not want to be around it.”
Some other issues raised were the space that the venue has; they typically believed that the riding area could be better used as more dancing space. Others voiced concerns at the potential for injuries to patrons, feeling that the environment that Slide and Ride promotes is not one that should be accented with large animals, regardless of the additional security measures that have been promoted.
Although the majority of students surveyed were in opposition, there were those in favor as well. A total of 9 were either moderately or extremely in favor of the idea. Almost double of that, 16 went on to say that their likelihood of going to Slide and Ride would either be higher or not at all impacted should the live bulls become a part of the bar. Several went on to say that they expected such events when the saloon first opened and liked the idea of the new crowd that it could potentially bring to Martin.
“When the place opened up, I was under the impression that there would be amateur bull riding and was thoroughly disappointed to find out otherwise,” said civil engineering freshman, Kyle Duncan.
Whatever the results of the dispute between Slide and Ride and the City of Martin, it seems that there are some distinct differences for the on campus community. Based on this survey, there may be quite a few students looking for a new weekend hot spot if Slide and Ride wins its case.
Update: After argument from both sides, the court has found that the granting of a permit to have live bull riding at Slide and Ride Saloon “would be injurious to public health and therefore the request for the permit is denied.”
