DALLAS, TX — The Penthouse Key Club was a popular Stemmons Corridor strip club not too long ago. Perhaps a little bit too popular. With 21 topless dancers accused of adding prostitution to their dance menu, the Dallas Police Department definitely felt that the club’s customer service was going too far.”We’ve got a sexually oriented business that’s operating basically as a brothel,” Assistant City Attorney Amy Messer insisted to the Dallas Morning News, explaining why the city decided that the club needed to chill for a while before being allowed to go back to business as it was supposed to be. “Because of the prostitution at this place, putting on a few more clothes really wasn’t going to stop the prostitution problem.”
The police department had originally asked the city to revoke the club’s license for a year, but fears that the establishment would continue its sex-for-hire ways as a bikini bar or comparably themed nightspot caused them to look for other solutions.
The solution agreed upon by all parties was a five month door closure, starting on Monday February 26th and ending on Thursday, July 26th. At that point, it will be given its sexually oriented business license back — and will likely be watched with eagle eyes.
According to Public Safety Committee head Steve Salazar, one of the difficulties that city officials encounter when trying to reign in overtly sexual behavior at clubs such as the Penthouse Key Club is that “Many of these places have dance hall licenses, and a lot of time they skirt the issue and continue to have dancers.”
Court costs associated with club related battles tend to mount and much time is invested in what can quickly become a protracted legal mess that leaves no one satisfied. Reaching this agreement is seen by officials as a meaningful accomplishment that will cost the offending club millions in lost revenue and let similar businesses know that the city is serious about curbing prostitution.
“It’s a very strong message that the city of Dallas is not going to tolerate prostitution,” Deputy Chief Julian Bernal told the Dallas Morning News. “It was the most egregious prostitution enterprise we’ve seen in a while.”
Nonetheless, Messer isn’t convinced that things will be different come the July re-opening. “We don’t know that this will cure the problem,” she admitted. “The girls that are prostitutes may move to other clubs. When they reopen, they may be a brothel again, and the vice squad is committed to being back there.”
