At 2001 Odyssey, all the strippers appear spacey but with good reason. On the roof of the Tampa adult club, the mother ship has landed. The saucer is actually a VIP room used for private dances by the women who work there. The unusual setting for erotica has clients reaching for the stars and their wallets.
The all-nude club is one of several in the area run by Joe Redner, a local businessman, who besides taking on the city council over the years, has also run for a position on it. After complaints that Redner's clubs were harming the upstanding image of Tampa, the city council passed an ordinance in 1999 requiring that all lap dances take place at least six feet from customers. Redner vowed from the beginning not to comply with the ruling. In 2003, with his backing, five dancers once again challenged the law in court. It was the latest of many legal battles to waste city resources. "I think the mayor is a punk," Redner said of former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. As Greco continued to target Redner's and other legally zoned clubs, prostitution and drugs ran rampant in the lower income neighborhoods of Tampa.
A referendum to put a ban on public nudity altogether may end up on the ballot for the next Tampa election, even though informal polls show an overwhelming number of people could care less about showing some skin in private establishments. Meanwhile, nestled on the north border of Tampa is Pasco County, which flaunts the largest number of nudists and alternative lifestyle communities per capita in the United States.
Perhaps a space ship would be better suited on the roof of Tampa's state house.
2001 Odyssey |
