Strip Club Owner Weighs Offer From Church

PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The owner of a strip club says he's considering a six-figure offer from a church to buy and shut down the location.


Bill Martin, owner of the Just Teazin club in Painesville Township, 25 miles northeast of Cleveland, declined Thursday to identify the church or when he might decide whether to accept the unsolicited offer.

His club has been the target of protesters who object to it operating in the community.

Martin said it was a legitimate business protected by the Constitution. "I'm a strong believer in the U.S. Constitution. Until we become more like the Taliban, I don't see why people have a problem with upholding the Constitution," he said.

Martin said the Union Congregational Church bought a former club of his in the township. The building was bought in 1996 for $36,000 and became a recreation center and eventually was sold for use as a homeless shelter, the Rev. Roderick Coffee said.

Union Congregational isn't the church seeking to buy Just Teazin, Martin and Coffee said. Martin said he didn't know if he would open another club if Just Teazin was sold.

Township Trustee Jeanette Crislip said strip clubs bring problems to a community and Trustee James S. Falvey said he hoped the club would be sold and shut down. The township's legal attempt to close the club failed.