Published: February 17, 2006 12:13 am            

Stephanie Salter: How could 12 Points not want nightclub?

According to state law, the (Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco) commission can issue a permit based on the need for services at the proposed location, the desire of the neighborhood to receive such services, and the impact of the proposed permit on nearby businesses and neighborhoods.

— from a Tribune-Star story on a strip club planned for 12 Points

All this time, I thought I was the only person in the north end of Terre Haute who has her heart set on a strip joint.

As it turns out, practically everybody feels the same. Without strippers, the historic commercial 12 Points district never truly can be complete.

The happy revelation began as I sipped my morning cappuccino in Juan Valdez’s charming espresso bar on Maple Avenue just west of Lafayette Avenue. I always like to sit in the window there, amid the hanging plants and international newspaper racks, and look out on the park where a BP gas station used to be.

A couple at the next table were talking so spiritedly, I could not help but overhear. The subject was a Charleston, Ill., man, Michael W. Bickers, and the difficulty he’s having obtaining proper permits for a pool hall/strip club at Lafayette and Linden Street.

“I can’t believe the state would deprive 12 Points of the one crucial neighborhood-serving business we lack,” said the woman.

The man nodded his head and said, “I know. If we lose this strip club, I hate to think what it will mean for our business and the health of the entire district.”

It was then I recognized the couple: Becky Thatcher and Tom Sawyer, the husband-wife team who own Huck’s, a cozy bookstore with leather armchairs and a fireplace just across Lafayette. (Becky’s kept her maiden name.)

Like Juan Valdez, Becky and Tom have been in business in 12 Points for years. I apologized for intruding, introduced myself and sat down at their table.

“Look around,” said Tom. “Go up and down each street, acknowledge the cornucopia of businesses we already have, then tell me we need something more than we need a strip club.”

A silver-haired woman in a gorgeous red suit turned from the espresso bar and said, “Amen!”

It was Gabrielle Chanel, the owner of the ladies’ fashion boutique that is catty-corner from Juan’s. (Everyone calls her “Coco.”)

“You would think this decision about Mr. Bickers’ alcoholic beverages license would be obvious for the state,” Coco said, pulling up a chair. “Just review the criteria: Permits are granted on the basis of a neighborhood’s need and desire for the proposed services, and on the projected impact of the permit on other businesses and residents. So what is the problem?”

On the “what,” Coco slapped her perfectly manicured hand down hard on the marble table, causing another customer to look our way. It was Fred Fellini, the owner of probably the best Italian restaurant in 12 Points, which is saying a lot because, as everyone knows, there are dozens.

“Fred!” Coco called to him. “You’ve been here forever. What does 12 Points desire more than anything else at this juncture? What do we desperately need?”

Fred extended his arms sideways, turned his palms upward and said what we all were thinking: “A place where men can come in, get drunk and stuff money into women’s G-strings.”

Everyone in Juan’s applauded.

I checked with the rest of the 12 Points’ merchants. Up and down Lafayette, on all the side streets, it was the same story. Every man, woman and child wants a neighborhood-serving strip club.

The owners of both gigantic supermarkets want one, as do those of the two hardware stores, the men’s and boys’ clothing store, the fabric outlet, all the bakeries, the exercise studios and fitness clubs, the Persian rug emporium, the children’s toy store, the 14 music and video shops, the cineplex, the five dry cleaner/Laundromats, the shoe repair shop, both luggage stores, the old-fashioned tea room and its sister soda fountain, all six banks, the pet hospital and, of course, the art galleries that line North 13th Street.

The owners of the gourmet food shop — just a stone’s throw from the building in which Bickers wants to open the 12 Points Dance and Pool Hall — probably summed it up best.

“We remember when 12 Points was mostly boarded-up storefronts,” said Brie Camembert, co-owner of Say Fromage. “Then, the major activity was listening to empty promises from politicians.”

(Among other wares, Say Fromage offers imported cheeses, chocolate truffles, a cordon bleu cooking school and a premium wine cellar run by Brie’s co-owner cousin, Lou Latour.)

“Look at this,” said Brie. “I’ve been keeping it for ages.”

She showed me a yellowing, four-page list titled, “What 12 Points Needs.” It included scores of businesses that, one by one, all had been crossed out as they came to thrive in — and transform — our once-struggling district.

Only a single “need” remained on Brie’s list: “Strip Club.”

“See,” she said. “We have everything else. It’s time.”

To be certain I could speak accurately about the neighborhood’s desires, I last called on the pastors of the area churches. They all seemed surprised the 12 Points Dance and Pool Hall was having such a hard time getting permits.

“My goodness, why would any of us object to a nightclub where women rub up against poles and dance as sex objects for men who drink too much and then get in their cars and drive away?” said one of the pastors. “Everyone in 12 Points is very excited. We hear Tuesdays will be Family Night.”

Stephanie Salter can be reached at (812) 231-4229 or stephanie.salter@tribstar.com.

        

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