RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WGNS News) - The tension over whether Friday Night Live’s stage should be on the west side or east side of square boiled over Thursday evening at the Rutherford County Courthouse, where Main Street Murfreesboro Executive Director Sarah Callender says she was blindsided and publicly criticized by County Mayor Joe Carr during a Property Management Committee meeting.
Callender told WGNS that she had been instructed to attend the 5:30 p.m. meeting and request an amendment allowing the stage to return to the east side of the historic courthouse — the location used for more than two decades. She said she expected to present safety concerns. Instead, she said, “Joe Carr came up and ran Main Street through the mud in front of everyone. It was awful. I want the community to know the truth about why he wants the stage on the west side despite my safety concerns. I spoke out to the commissioners.”
Mayor Carr said, “The statute is quite clear in use of the courthouse and other public facilities. TCA 5-6-108 says ‘The mayor manages and oversees all county property, except for what is explicitly placed in the care of other officers (such as the highway department).…’ .”
Mayor Carr commented that the First Friday event in June was moved to the west side of the courthouse because of past problems with Friday Night Live. Issues arose when audience grew from a few hundred to 5,000, a figure Mrs. Callender gave to the committee.
Mayor Carr told the Property Management Committee, “We have had chronic and systemic problems in the courthouse after many of these events. Everything from homeless slipping-in and sleeping, to flooding problems discovered Monday mornings after the large crowds used the public restrooms.”
Mayor Carr seemed to be most concerned with security issues of people slipping into the courthouse and possibly roaming into offices where financial papers and other private files could be breached.
Mayor Carr was firm in stating; state law puts the responsibility of securing the building on the county mayor. He wants to preserve the building’s historic structure.
The courthouse is one of only six remaining antebellum (pre–Civil War) county courthouses still standing in Tennessee, and it is still in active use. That rarity alone placed it in a very select group of historic government buildings.
Commissioner Phil Dodd noted, “After 21-years of events being on the east side and suddenly moved to the west side—it seems an agreement could be reached.”
Mayor Carr said he thought it had been and that is why the June event was on the west side.
Carr further noted that he was going to stay firm in protecting our Historic Rutherford County Courthouse for the remainder of his tenure. He said that whatever the next mayor (Randy Allen) wishes to do, it is his prerogative.
When the meeting ended, Main Street received what Callender described as “special permission” for only one event: the July 3 Friday Night Live concert is permitted to return to the east side. The August and September concerts, she said, must remain on the west side under the county’s directive.
For Callender, the decision breaks sharply with history. “In 21 years of Friday Night Live concerts, all have been on the east side,” she said. The same was true for Uncle Dave Macon Days, June Dairy Days, and the long-running Christmas programs that filled the square with dancers, singers, and Santa. “Everything has always been on the east side.”
Callender told WGNS the county mayor’s office moved the stage to the west side to keep the east side of the inner circle open for courthouse parking — even though, she noted, “most of the parking spaces on the inner circle are used by county employees parking there all day.”
She said Main Street even secured approval from the City of Murfreesboro to reserve ten parking spaces on Church Street for courthouse visitors during event days, complete with signage that Main Street would install and maintain. “The Rutherford County Mayor’s Office did not want to do that,” she said.
During the meeting, Callender laid out her full case to commissioners, citing concerns raised by Murfreesboro Police, production crews, and attendees. She explained that closing Maple Street for a west‑side stage disrupts traffic flow and creates conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians. She described staging equipment shifting on the west side’s downhill slope, water draining toward electrical cables, and the crowd sitting in direct sun for hours — a particular concern for older attendees.
She also emphasized that Main Street worked with the County Trustee’s Office to preserve courthouse parking by shifting setup times and offering alternative spaces.
“These concerts bring about 5,000 people downtown who stroll the square and shop local businesses”, she told the committee. “Main Street's purpose is to promote historic downtown Murfreesboro. If our activities were moved to Central Magnet School or other non-square location, it would go against Main Street's purpose. For 21 years, the east side has worked. We’re simply asking to return to a proven setup.”
For now, only July 3 gets the green light to return to the east side of the square. The Property Management Committee voted for the county mayor and Main Street to meet again and try to resolve their differences. After that, the committee will revisit the issue.
The rest of the summer remains a question mark — and a point of growing friction on the square. Another meeting between County Mayor Joe Carr and Main Street Murfreesboro’s Executive Director Sarah Callender was agreed upon at the Thursday evening Property Management Committee meeting. WGNS News will keep you informed.
