Section One
Friday,
April 8, 2005
Volume 33,
Issue 14
Sat, Nov 21, 2009
IN THE SGN
SECTION ONE
Front Page
MORE/ALL
SECTION ONE
STORIES
SECTION TW0
Arts & Entertainment
Farewell, old friend... |
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| Club Z slated for demolition this summer | ||
| by Don Paulson
Club Z (a.k.a. Zodiac Social Club) is closing its doors after 35 years. If only those walls could talk! A sauna has replaced the steam room but nothing can replace the raw energy of the male sex, from vanilla to chocolate, that happened within its walls. Society has taken away everything from Gays except sex, which is the driving force on this planet. Is it any wonder some Gays have developed into legendary proportions? Its not that Gays are so bad, its that Gays are so much fun. But such indulgence does not take away from their capacity to be sensible or to love, even through a glory hole or properly secured in a leather sling, thank you, Sir! Club member Rankell Anders-Potter said, I think Club Z is a wonderful place. It played a good role in the Gay community but gets too much bad press. People go there and then they beat themselves up...: Oh, I went there and did drugs..., and Oh, I went there and got an STD..., or whatever. They blame it on the business and not on their own behavior. It was a place where your fantasies were never allowed to cultivate - if you thought of something you did it. While some sex clubs in Seattle that cater to men are said to attract a stand and pose type crowd, Club Z encompassed everyone else, including a ghost that is said to haunt this 1895 building from the time when it was a hotel and brothel. Manager Carlos Adams, who has worked a Club Z since 1994, said he has never seen the ghost, but customers say she resides on the second floor. Employees say she waves at them in her chiffon dress and beckons them into a certain room. What is she thinking? Club Z has had several owners, originating in Pioneer Square, Second Avenue and Pike Street. Brad Grauman purchased the business in 1989, run down and threatened with closure by police for drug activity. But Brad was good with the police and they gave him a chance to clean it up. At the same time the nefarious Monastery closed and a lot of their people descended on Club Z and brought their fetishistic sex trips with them - pentagram graffiti, satanism, ritualistic sex trips, bloody handprints on the wall including writing in blood. By gradually 86-ing the offenders, Brad was able to succeed but not without a price as he felt those to whom he gave the bums rush eked their revenge by torturing him with bad dreams. Club Z blossomed when Carlos came on board and together he and Brad turned Club Z from a grimy hovel into an imaginative, sexy and inviting interior of 54 rooms and other enticing places. Its so clean, customers are often heard remarking. Carlos said, We base ourselves on customer service and went from a data base of 1,100 customers to 4,000. I painted the rooms with bold colors and decorative imagery and installed slings and mirrors for those with refined tastes. We added more bathrooms, put in Internet access, regular cable and food and game machines - even a small stage in case Bette Midler wants to do a show. Were proud of what weve done but our popularity runs us ragged. We dont allow drag queens because Brad wanted to keep a more masculine atmosphere. Theres a lot of sexual energy going on here and temptation by employees to enter into it is always there. However I demand containing oneself or youre fired. Ive gone through a lot of people. Many bathhouses in the nation were closed in the 80s because of the AIDS epidemic, but the three Seattle clubs remained open. Dr. Bob Wood of the Madison Clinic said, Other cities thought closure was a good way to stop the spread of AIDS but it was based on no solid evidence. If we closed them there would be criticism resulting in lack of cooperation that would compromise our educational purposes about HIV and AIDS. Carlos said, At one point it was suggested that the clubs take off the doors to the rooms, install stronger lighting and hire sex police with flashlights to make sure everyone was having safe sex. The management of the clubs, however, were very committed to get the right information to their club members so they and the health department decided to work together. So - after a million or more customers - Club Z will close its doors forever. It will soon belong to the ages and its members will scatter to the four winds - but where will the clubs resident ghost reside now? But like Club Z, maybe its time to let go of earthly pursuits when the building is demolished for development sometime after May 31. As the Beatles once told their guru, It was a good trip. Thanks a lot. Don Paulson is a painter and author, with Roger Simpson, of An Evening at the Garden of Allah which chronicles Seattles early Gay community. |
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 GENERAL GAYETY Leslie Robinson |
 NOT THINKING STRAIGHT Madelyn Arnold |
