Cheeks Bar Manager Talks About Plans for Controversial Mural

The outside wall at Cheeks Sports Bar & Grill will no longer depict . Instead the bar's manager, Riley O'Neil Miles, has created a , and said the .

Miles said the new mural will be similar to the original idea, but without the women.

As soon as the weather improves Miles said he will finish the mural by adding a crown, the name of the bar and, possibly, permanent food specials. The original mural drew criticism from nearby residents who said it was not suitable for children and the neighborhood.

Miles said he is trying to draw more of the community into the bar instead of deflecting potential customers.

The inside of the bar is presented as a traditional sports bar with professional and college sports logos and mascots peppering the walls, and Miles said he would like to extend that feeling to the outside of the bar.

"We're trying to get the building more presentable outside," Miles said. "It's not up to par, as far as presentation, when you drive by."

Miles is a father of five children ranging in ages from 3 to 22 years old and said he cares about what his children are exposed to each day. He said this is a big reason he was able to empathize with the community’s disapproval of the mural.

"I didn't expect to erupt thousands of people," Miles said. "When I did it there was no doubt (that some people weren't going to approve)...and I expected some retaliation as far as "I don't agree with that," but did I know that I was going to do harm and create this (outrage) in the community, no."

As a manager, Miles said, he needs to look out for the best interest of the bar, and in a flailing economy any disruption to business can be devastating.

He said it will cost him about about 20 addition hours of labor and $300 in materials to cover the mural.

Initially the mural was conceived to draw more business, but Miles said since the community uproar the response has been more negative than positive, though he said many people were glad to see he was trying to improve the exterior look of the building.

Miles said he got over 300 signatures from residents and bar patrons that supported the mural and didn't find it offensive in any way.

The unfinished mural was going to be a larger version of their copyrighted logo according to Miles.

Miles said the logo was designed to attract men, because men are his primary customers.

Though Miles wants to try to adhere to the wishes of the community, he said he feels the mural was misunderstood.

"I don't feel like the silhouette of a woman is provocative," Miles said. "(It's) no different than on West Road where Curves workout place for women...they have a silhouette of a woman and that's not provocative."

Miles said the community's opinion of the bar might also be misunderstood.

"I'll get rid of it (the mural)," Miles said. "That's no problem, but at the same time I think we deserve a little more respect than getting slandered as some trashy, (expletive) hole, strip club on the corner and claims that we're doing so terrible of a thing in this community."

Miles maintains that the bar is no different than any other sports bar in the area.

"On any given Sunday, on a Lions game, you can come in here (Cheeks) at 1 p.m. and we got 15 to 30 people in here with children of the age of 9 to 12 running around with chicken fingers and fries enjoying themselves with their parents watching the game," he said.

Miles said he doesn't consider any bar to be family oriented, but that he welcomes everyone, including children, to Cheeks as long as a parent accompanies them.

"We aren't trying to focus on some kind of a porno show here," Miles said. "It's not what we're into. Like any other sports bar, sports are driven by males and like like any other sports bar we are trying to attract males."