Local Club keeps getting raided

They turned me away at one point so the council is pulling strings. Don’t patronize clubs that are prejudiced against vultures. Squawk!

Normally I would have simply asked my lion bud to go all wildebeest on their asses, but I thought I’d play the long game. Squawk!

Pay the bribe and shut up 😀

My guess is that either somebody pissed a politician off or they are trying to build a case to shut the club down. In looking at its location I'm guessing the latter. In a growing downtown arts district with a performing arts center, wine bars and upscale coffee shops, good ol' Bazookas is probably an eyesore. It may also be sitting on a spot that the city is looking to develop into something nicer.

I've seen much the same thing happen in other areas over time, including the clean out of the old Boston strip clubs and the recent gentrification of Long Island City (Queens) in NYC. It's always the same playbook, first comes the series of police raids. If those aren't enough to build a case for closure, then send in the building inspectors and fire marshals. One way or another, City Hall is going to get its way.

Something's rotten in the great state of Kansas!

What Rick mentioned isn't always the case but these days it often is - the -powers-to-be normally turn-a-blind-eye w.r.t. the clubs until the clubs suddenly become an inconvenience (often to developers that don't want a strip club to be anywhere near their shinny new development).

I saw it happen in the late 2000s in Arlington, TX which is 30-minutes west of Dallas - Arlington was a smallish city but had about 15 strip clubs at the time - Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones built his new billion-dollar Cowboys stadium in Arlington which opened in 2010 and all but one of the 15 strip clubs disappeared in less than one year - the lone survivor for some reason they couldn't ge rid off but the fun was cut down significantly at the one remaining club and didn't seem to get too-much foot-traffic.

@member: I'm in the KC metro area and have heard *nothing* about these raids. Checked EECIE.net KCMO today......nothing in the past year. In fact, the last strip club 'encounter' review [2/9] was about Bazookas, nada about stricter rules.

What's the source of your info: personal experience..there during raid, dancer's talk???

In the local context the 'eyesore ...make way for new development' explanation doesn't make sense.

Check out the google street view [early 2019] of Bazookas and surrounding area.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=…

BZ's the nicest building in the immediate area. The 7 story brick Plexpod has had numerous short-lived tenants in the nearly two decades BZ has been at its present location. Look at the abandoned glass and aluminum buildings across and to the S of BZ. Until a few years ago the bar next door to BZ was owned by BZ's owner [then called The Bulldog]. North of BZ Toms Town Distilling moved in. Further N the building is up for lease. Quite a few relatively unused spaces and parking lots. Lots of space for development.

If there's a case for an 'eyesore' it's nearby Totally Nude Temptations on Grand just S of Sprint Arena.

Check out street view from early 2019:

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=…

The city definitely considers it an eyesore with it's large orange neon 'Totally Nude' sign!

Here's an excerpt from a Pitch story circa 2014:

*Before the Republican National Convention site-selection committee landed in Kansas City on Wednesday [June, 2014] we noticed that the (in)famous “Totally Nude” sign over the Temptations gentlemen’s club at 1517 Grand was covered up.

City Hall for years has wanted to jettison the garish sign, but it has withstood pressure over the years. And now, with top GOP officials in town trying to figure out whether Kansas City is a suitable locale for the 2016 Republican National Convention, the “Totally Nude” sign is suddenly obscured.

Of course, “Totally Nude” is somewhat misleading. Missouri laws enacted in 2010 mean dancers at Temptations can’t dance, um, totally nude.*

BTW, loper, Bazookas and the Crossroads area along with the Chiefs and Royals are all located in KC MISSOURI.
POSTED WARNING: Caution short-bus survivor...slow learner here.

The manager at temptations wont allow them tops off cause of the raid last week. I'd assume he would know better than most, but I could be wrong, these raids are never on the news.

Member sent you a PM.
Were they all vice - sexually oriented business regs raids? Drug raids? Code violations? For a while TNT had a repeating problem with smoking violations and the KCFD.
A few years ago TNT mgmt was quick to react to any hint of trouble by tightening up the rules, more so than BZs.

Bazookas has been the middle of that "art district" for thirty years or more though. My wife and I went down there numerous times for dinner at Keys (is that still there), a movie at whatever that artsy theater was, and then a nightcap at Bazookas.

They also own some of the real estate down there.the bar next door for 1 and I heard a few others but they promote the bar and give discount drinks if you show your Bazookas ticket from what the dancers told me.

Look at the reasons tbeyre getting raided

GMD: Bazookas was originally located further S on Main St just south of Linwood Blvd and a Gates BBQ. It was a strip club and movie theater complex. They and other businesses had to relocate when a shopping area anchored by Home Depot was developed. That's when they moved to their present location. Don't remember a Keys restaurant but don't see any present info on google.

@joker, it was a Piano bar. Often had two players. One of the piano players went to Bazookas with us one time.

Member: I believe they sold or leased the former Bulldog space to a guy setting up a bar offering on-tap beer. Now called Taps. You're right about the discount drinks at the old Bulldog. Don't know if that arrangement holds with Taps. BTW - the food, until the last few years of its existence, was very good to excellent at the Bulldog. Parking lot often full for dinner with a wait!

I hated the place after bulldog, the serve your own beer, I forget the name. The service was terrible

@gmd: Was this at there old location 30-something Main near Linwood or at there current location 1717 Main?

@joker, I honestly do not remember. It was the early 90's, and I've slept since then. :)

@Member: Check out the street map link to BZs. It's Taps On Main - Pour Your Own Beer. Never been. During its heyday Bulldog was often crowded and probably made $$$ as much as BZs.

To my point above: BZs is as much an anchor and plus for that area as anything nearby. It's been a rare stable tenant until the much newer Toms Town and the branch bank on the south corner opened.

Taps on main is after the one I am talking about, it only last a year or 2 at the most.

It does seem like shady and Bazookas get raided the most, shady is clearly for drugs everytime

@gmd -early 90s probably means at the old 330xx Main location because the Home Depot - Costco anchored shopping plaza opened near year 2000 IIRC.
I can't remember clearly either; don't have sleeping as excuse, just age. :)

@Member - yeah I vaguely remember now a short-lived bar b4 Taps.
Shady also has a liquor license to worry about unlike TNT & BZ.

@gmd: I've seen plenty of clubs occupy space for a long time and be perfectly fine...right until they weren't. All it takes to bring trouble down on a club is one politico who thinks that the space could be put to better use, especially if that club is occupying desirable real estate.

I'm not saying that this is unequivocally what's happening here, but if I had to bet money I'd guess that someone in City Hall sees visions of pricey loft apartments (or some other upscale building) where the club currently sits. I've never seen this level of harassment - 3 or 4 raids in the same year targeting a single club - in circumstances that were not part of a coordinated effort to force the club to shut down or move.

"... I've seen plenty of clubs occupy space for a long time and be perfectly fine...right until they weren't. All it takes to bring trouble down on a club is one politico who thinks that the space could be put to better use, especially if that club is occupying desirable real estate ..."

e.g. my Arlington, TX example of the late-2000s - it had being fertile SC grounds for many years and it was all gone in less than one-year.

I recently had a good conversation with a KC Bartender who is an ex cop i the KC districts. She quit the police force because she did not like the politics. The mayor and other politicians hid the statistics on crime and would not allow arrests to occur i certain areas because it would look bad for the business investors in the area. My suspicion is that the area that Bazookas is located may have another use in the political groups mind and thus the politicians need to harass the establishment into moving.

And a regular cop quitting the force fkr a shit job knows that 🤣🤣

Unidan, I could see that 100% being true but I think its actually done thru the whole city. The ex police chief, previous mayor and current mayor dont really act like they have any clue on what they are doing or how to fix any problems. That being said I dunno if Bazookas is being pushed out cause cops in KC avoid doing their jobs at all cost. I was robbed at gun point and told it was my fault for not shooting them and no arrests were ever made or questions asked me to after the 5ish min interview. They actually wont even come out and take broken car reports over the phone only.

@member6532. The ex cop told me that the politicians don’t want the a arrests so the cops don’t feel the need to do any real police work because it goes nowhere. Thus, the raids are probably politically motivated and the politicians are making the cops do the raids. Corrupt city. Hell, when I went to college off Troost Ave back in 1986, the city was run by the Mafia. Now that the Mafia is no longer an issue, the other organized crime syndicates (aka politicians) now do the illegal activities all in the name of good.

But it's just 2 clubs really getting raided, 1 is shady lady, which no one is offended by and the neighborhood isnt getting better and Bazookas which for a strip club looks nicer than most from the outside. TNT has a giant purple neon and is across the street from the Sprint Center and has only been raided 2 or 3 times in 5 years.