"It's

a mistake," said the attorney for the Development Authority of Peachtree

City about language in a contract that gave Adidas exclusive rights inside

the Tennis Center pro shop, but makes the cash-strapped DAPC guarantee

$366,306 in sales of Adidas products over five years.

Virgil Christian,

executive director of the DAPC and manager of both the Tennis Center and

Fred Brown Jr. Amphitheater, holds the lease on the retail space, which

pays no rent and is corporately known as "Peachtree Trading Post."

But that wasn't

the name that appeared repeatedly throughout the Feb. 14, 2002 "Partnership

Agreement" with Adidas, made public this week with the resignation

of DAPC Vice Chairman Scott Bradshaw.

"Let this

serve as a five year partnership agreement for Peachtree City Tennis Center

/ Development Authority of Peachtree City (PCTC)" reads the first

graph of the two-page contract, signed by two representatives of Adidas

along with Christian as Executive Director and Sean Ferreira, senior pro

on the tennis center staff.

"It's

nothing I'm ashamed of," said Christian on Thursday, before a DAPC

meeting called to discuss the Adidas contract, as well as Christian's

responsibilities.

"The impression

is that I somehow benfit, but it's really the tennis center that benefits,"

Christian said.

DAPC Chairman

Tate Godfrey, already discouraged by months of criticism from Mayor Steve

Brown, expressed anger Thursday at both Bradshaw and the local media for

making more out of the Adidas contract than it is, he said.

"We are

working on all of these things outlined by Scott Bradshaw," said

Godfrey, adding the vice-chairman's resignation came as a surprise.

He had just

one sure response when asked about Christian's job security going into

Thursday night's meeting: "We're not going to fire him."

Updates on

developments from the meeting will be posted on The Citizen's website

"The Development

Authority never should have been connected to that contract," agreed

Mark Oldenburg, DAPC attorney, who confirmed he didn't know it existed

until Bradshaw showed it to him two weeks ago.

Adidas has

agreed to amend the language in the agreement, good through 2007.

Bradshaw, who

first discovered the document last month while doing research on the authority's

financial management policy, couldn't remember voting on the Adidas deal,

much less seeing the agreement.

But Oldenburg

said Christian was correct in handling the marketing deal without approval

of the authority.

Ferreira, one

of the first Tennis Center hires shortly after Christian was wooed from

Pennsylvania to establish the Peachtree City facility in 1995, agrees

the Adidas contract should have read "Trading Post," and remains

loyal to his boss.

"Virgil

had an unbelievable vision for this place," said Ferreira on Wednesday,

sitting in the Ashland Grille restaurant adjacent to the pro shop, with

views of the center's 24 courts beyond.

The North Carolina

State graduate has acted as general manager of the tennis facility since

Christian was promoted to executive director over both venues last year,

learning the business inside and out.

"Here's

where I think people are missing Virgil's vision," said Ferreria.

"This is a government-owned tennis center built to be self-supporting,

and it's impossible. It can't happen."

Ferreria said

some form of regular, dependable subsidy from the city council is the

only way to avoid near-constant struggles to avoid the red ink.

State Sen.

Mitch Seabaugh worked alongside state Rep. Lynn Westmoreland to craft

the amendment to the georgia code of laws that made it legal for development

authorities to operate entertainment venues and athletic facilities, a

condition that applies exclusively to the Peachtree City authority.

"I feel

my role is to be a resource for helping resolve problems in our communities,"

said Seabaugh. "The legislation we passed was a resource to help

(DAPC) get to where they needed to go."

But his work

is done, he said Wednesday.

"The question

of what to do with the development authority now?" he asked. "That's

a question for the people of Peachtree City to decide."