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Lockeford's bikini bar is due to be remodeled and reopen as a country bar on Thursday night. It will be called Gone Country. (Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel)
Lockeford bikini bar shuts down; now will become country bar
The Lockeford bikini bar that stirred up controversy in the small community is going from thongs to bolo ties.
The nightclub, which opened in April, will reinvent itself by becoming a country bar, according to George Mull, attorney for On the Beach owner Timothy Kruppe.
On the Beach, which featured bikini-clad dancers and lap dances, closed its doors at 3 p.m. Tuesday. It will reopen at 5 p.m. Thursday under a new name — Gone Country. The new nightclub will be open only three days a week — Thursday, Friday and Saturday — from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. That may change depending on how business goes, Mull said.
The focus will be on country music. There will be live bands, dancing will be limited to the customers, and there will be karaoke, including contests with cash prizes. There will continue to be a full menu and bar, Mull said.
Kruppe, a former adult book store owner in Lodi, will retain a financial interest in the new venture, but he will not oversee day-to-day operations, Mull said. The attorney declined to name the new manager.
"That sounds a lot better," said Lindsay Nixon, who owns Red's Best Lil' HairHouse in the same shopping center as the nightclub. "Hopefully, it will bring a different crowd around. It just depends on how that person runs it."
On the Beach created controversy in Lockeford, much of it due to Kruppe's background. He owned Intimates, a store with nude dancers, adult films, magazines and sex toys, in Lodi for eight years before selling the business in June 2007. He previously owned Adult Pleasure World in Downtown Lodi from 1992 to 2004, when his landlord refused to renew his lease.
Until Tuesday afternoon, On the Beach featured bikini-clad professional dancers who also offered lap dances in the so-called VIP room. Lap dancing, which Mull admits included nudity, ended in early August.
"If it's a well-run country western bar, that would be fine," said Bob Marty, a member of the Lockeford Municipal Advisory Council. Hopefully, the noise won't disturb the neighbors, especially behind them."
On the Beach at a glance
December: Timothy Kruppe announces plans to open a nightclub on Highway 88 in the west end of Lockeford.Jan. 17: The county issues a stop-work notice after Kruppe began constructing a 22-inch platform for the bar's dancers.
Jan. 22: County officials tell Kruppe that he needed a use permit before any kind of entertainment could take place.
Feb. 29: Kruppe files a $5 million lawsuit against the county in U.S. District Court.
April 1: Board of Supervisors adopts an interim ordinance governing live entertainment.
April 25: On the Beach opens its doors.
Aug. 4: Final lap dance after Kruppe voluntarily agrees to end the service.
Aug. 4: Kruppe offers to also end bikini dancing and convert his business into a traditional night club. In exchange, the county would pay Kruppe a large amount of money to cover legal costs and lost revenue created by not having bikini dancers and lap dances.
Aug. 16: Board of Supervisors discusses Kruppe's settlement offer in closed session. No action was taken.
Aug. 26: On the Beach closes its doors.
Aug. 28: The nightclub, renamed Gone Country, is due to open at 5 p.m.
— News-Sentinel staff
Before On the Beach opened, Mull described the venture as a lot of fun.
"Our theme is it's spring break every day," Mull said in December. "Basically, we're just a fun nightclub that brings Cabo San Lucas to Northern California."
Community leaders and restaurants were alarmed about Kruppe's plans because of his background in two adult businesses.
On the Beach opened in April, featuring thong -wearing bikini dancers and lap dances, but Kruppe ended the lap dances in early July while Mull was negotiating a settlement for a $5 million lawsuit Kruppe filed earlier in the year against San Joaquin County.
Kruppe filed the lawsuit on Feb. 29 in U.S. District Court, claiming that county officials violated his free-speech rights by creating too many obstacles toward opening the bikini bar.
The case has not gone to court, and the county has not agreed to settle with Kruppe, Mull said.
In early August, Kruppe offered to get out of the bikini dance business and operate a traditional night club instead. In exchange, the county would give Kruppe an undisclosed amount of cash for legal fees and compensation for lost revenue from eliminating bikini dancing and lap dances, Mull said.
As a sign of good faith, Mull added, Kruppe agreed to voluntarily stop the lap dances earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the county's community development department staff denied a special entertainment permit on the grounds that there was partial nudity in the bar and dance areas, full nudity in the VIP room, simulated sex acts and allegations of solicitation for prostitution, Deputy County Counsel Mark Myles said in early August.
Kruppe's conversion of his establishment into a country bar has nothing to do with the settlement talks or the lawsuit, Mull said.
"We've been listening to the community. That's what it is," Mull said. "I think it will be more popular."
Marty thinks so.
"I don't see a problem with it as long as there is the typical security that goes with any bar," he said.
Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.
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hammerhead83 wrote on Aug 31, 2008 6:37 PM:
hammerhead83 wrote on Aug 31, 2008 6:12 PM:
Gator wrote on Aug 30, 2008 9:26 AM:
working Ranchers, farmers, Cattlemen, sheep ranchers and working Cowboys who built this country and continue to feed America. The
Folks who hang out in those establishments are All Hat and no
Cattle!! "
Gator wrote on Aug 30, 2008 6:49 AM:
chance, MD 20/20, Cisco Red, Night Train Express, Thunderbird or
Wild Irish Rose. As for Lodi wines I really like Van Ruiten Cab Shiraz
but hard to come by in Idaho!! "
TJP80 wrote on Aug 28, 2008 2:09 PM:
boonablis wrote on Aug 28, 2008 6:12 AM:
Shop at mens warehouse, drive a sports car, and sip on fine wines? Wow, are you one of those "suits" with a pony tail and an earring in your 91' mazda rx-7 sports car?? You constantly talk about its "high" performance, while the people look at you with a perplexed look because it is a mazda. Listen, bottom line you are from Galt, I am from Lodi. Galt has a meth problem, you have more white trash per capita than Lodi. Galt will never be Lodi, and vice versa. Galt flat out sucks "
Cogito wrote on Aug 27, 2008 9:09 PM:
Cogito wrote on Aug 27, 2008 9:08 PM:
Cogito wrote on Aug 27, 2008 9:01 PM:
Leonard wrote on Aug 27, 2008 6:29 PM:
Bob: No Doc, I'm a young man. 6 months isn't enough time, there's got to be something I can do to live longer.
Doctor: Well, there's one thing you can do but its really tough.
Bob: What is it?
Doctor: You've got to move to a mobile home in Arkansas, get a job at Walmart, marry a really ugly woman and start drinking Coors Beer.
Bob: That will make me live longer?
Doctor: No, but those 6 months will seem like forever. "
Cogito wrote on Aug 27, 2008 6:23 PM:
Leonard wrote on Aug 27, 2008 6:22 PM:
( so do I ) along with drinking Coors beer, ( I`ll pass ) bud lite more my style
I am not a snob about most things.
I drive a small car, I live in a relatively small house (by modern standards) and I buy most of my suits at Mens Wearhouse.
That said, when your choice is between Coors and Bud Lite, you have already lost the war.
Life is simply too short to drink bad beer. "
dogs4you wrote on Aug 27, 2008 4:42 PM:
Whoa Nellie! wrote on Aug 27, 2008 4:32 PM:
ps: Boon, nice laugh at Cogs expense. "
dogs4you wrote on Aug 27, 2008 2:34 PM:
Lodian wrote on Aug 27, 2008 1:06 PM:
Observer wrote on Aug 27, 2008 12:40 PM:
Leonard wrote on Aug 27, 2008 10:42 AM:
Leonard wrote on Aug 27, 2008 10:42 AM:
" I'd rather have a strip club in my neighborhood than a place that caters to a bunch of backwards, pickup driving, Coors beer drinking, chicken fried steak eating hillbillies.
That was the great thing about the old place.
You could have both. "
WOWerzz wrote on Aug 27, 2008 10:03 AM:
4AStrongLodi wrote on Aug 27, 2008 9:32 AM:
I'm not a fan of strip clubs (although they should be legal), but I'd rather have a strip club than a country bar. The security at a strip club is very tight and they are very respectful of their neighbors. A country bar is just going to be a bunch of noise, fighting, drunk drivers, and tobacco spit. "
boonablis wrote on Aug 27, 2008 8:32 AM:
What you described sounds just like galt, but you left out meth for your town. "
T & C wrote on Aug 27, 2008 8:19 AM:
Cogito wrote on Aug 27, 2008 8:19 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.