Last dance: Ga. town closes its only strip club

Middleman makes a big profit
Owens turned to a middleman, Stacey Britt, to buy the club himself and then turn it over to the city. On July 29, he bought the club for $762,000 and sold it hours later to the city for $995,000, making a cool profit of close to a quarter of a million dollars.

"It's just business," says Britt, a former commissioner for a nearby county.

The city paid for its share through a bond for a water treatment upgrade, which could end up costing Lavonia $1.2 million in interest payments.

"We're in an economic turndown and here we decide to spend $1 million. Was that the best use of funds?" shrugs Fesperman. "It's an investment, and it's something we had to do.

"The people expect you to stand up and fight. And the city went above and beyond to do so."

The proud new owner of Cafe Risque called a town meeting after the sale, and all the churches in Lavonia advertised it. A standing-room-only crowd of dozens showed up to city hall and rewarded the mayor and his council with a standing ovation when they announced the deal.

Then the mayor led about 50 citizens a few miles down the road. The group counted down from 10 and tore down the cafe's 12-foot-wide sign. They poured diesel on it and watched it go up.

'The best money ... ever spent'
Owens sits in his office weeks later, still eager to talk about the sale. He shows visitors two manila folders filled with notes from well-wishers. One is from a man named Davey Johnson who included a $20 bill.

"If I ever left Texas, and I won't, your city is where I'd go," he wrote.

Owens and his council hope to recoup the costs by selling the building, which sits on a 4.6 acre plot near the highway. Inside is a jukebox, a pool table and a fridge packed with food — so much so that the city used the leftovers to host a brunch of sausage, eggs and bacon.

The town also has come up with a rezoning scheme that will likely ward off strip clubs by limiting them to two spots: A gritty industrial area near the railroad tracks, and behind a chicken hatchery on the outskirts of town.

You can fool Lavonians once, but now they're certain another Cafe Risque won't open without their blessing.

"It was a disgrace, it was embarrassing," says LeCroy. "It's the best money this town has ever spent. Whatever it took to get rid of it, we'll make it back. It's just money."

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