CARTERVILLE - Fred's Dance Barn is bittersweetly awaiting the end of an era.

The soundtrack to this era is cowboy boots tapping and bottle caps clicking to the tune of down-home country music.

Fred's Dance Barn in Carterville permanently will close its doors on Dec. 9 after nearly 40 years as the area's premier bring-your-own-bottle entertainment venue.

Owner Barrett Rochman is selling the Dance Barn property to the Carterville school district so it can expand its reach once the high school is built.

Rochman said negative media attention following a highly publicized shooting near Fred's Dance Barn property in January was a major factor in a steep attendance decline that ultimately led to the decision to close.

"We've been thinking about it ever since that kid got murdered out there," Rochman said. "He was executed by a drug situation, and they turned it into a nonstop, never-ending story and people just stopped coming."

Williamson County Sheriff's deputies in late January responded to an incident in which Larry D. Williams, 23, was shot just outside the Dance Barn. At the time, an undergraduate fraternity party was in progress at Fred's.

Although Rochman stressed that the shooting took place at least 400 feet from his establishment, he said that negative media attention and the association with a shooting drove away customers nonetheless.

"The newspapers ran with it; TV ran with it," Rochman said. "The crowd drops; and our peak season fell away from under us. It just got to be tiresome."

Until Fred's ultimate closure Dec. 9, there will be special events and giveaways every night the club is open, Rochman said.

Rochman lamented the demise of the Dance Barn, one of Williamson County's most distinctive buildings with a pig as a memorable marquee.

"Thirty-nine and a half years," Rochman said. "What a shame and what a tradition - gone."

ashley.wiehle@thesouthern.com

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