Lights Out
26 January 2009, early evening
Club Paradise is one of two strip clubs in my neighbourhood, the other being the House of Lancaster. While the House of Lancaster is just a strip club, I consider Club Paradise a landmark. Two things about the club standout in my mind. First, it shares a wall with an evangelical church. That’s an awkward living arrangement. Besides that, it is also home to this brilliant large neon sign of a girl bending over. It’s a surprisingly explicit sign and, as one could imagine, not a popular sight in the neighbourhood. The sign has been off for a few weeks now. Apparently the owner is caving to residents requests to take the sign down. By spring it may not be here at all. I think i’m the only person in Blansdowne that’s going to miss the sign. I liked looking out my window and seeing it. Club Paradise is a pretty ugly building when you take away its sign.
Update: The lights are back on! And there are new signs.
Are you going to buy the sign and put it up in your apartment?
by Mahi on Jan 26, 23:36 #
I should have bought a loft with 16 foot ceilings.
by ramanan on Jan 26, 23:49 #
That sign has been there forever. I don’t understand why people are complaining now. Oh wait, it’s all the people that just moved there and realize that they see a sign of a girl bending over. They should make that sign a heritage site so they can never remove it. Like the Sam The Record Man records on yonge (though they’re not there till construction finishes ;;). I think there are more explicit things you see on advertisement posters plastered around town than that 1 neon sign.
by Iluvitar on Jan 27, 01:03 #
I’ve always loved that sign. Its part of the “gateway” to our neighbourhood.
I just wish he had animated it instead of leaving all 3 images on all the time.
by Mark on Jan 27, 23:13 #
Another vote in favour of the nekkid lady sign.
by Heather Doherty on Jan 29, 08:44 #
I LOVE the sign too!! I agree with Mark that it should be animated. I can see the sign from my front door and always smile at the view.
by Taralyn on Jul 13, 17:24 #
i just wanted to note that though BLCF (bloor lansdowne christian fellowship) is actually attached to club paradise, we’ve made the issue of “awkward” a reason to do outreach.
We run a drop-in on thursdays from 9:00pm to 3:30am on thursday night called Serenity Cafe for female sex workers in downtown Toronto. We are the only church in Toronto to try something like this, and have various organizations partnering with us, as well as the support of the Toronto police…
The number of trafficked women working in strip clubs in Toronto has sky rocketed, the mass majority of strippers are trafficked women, or owned by their pimps and caught in pimping rings.
Just some food for thought…
by beth on Sep 29, 02:25 #
Thanks for the background. I had though the Serenity Cafe night was something for teenagers. That’s nice you are doing this sort of work in the area. There are definitely some women who could use the help out and about in Blansdowne.
by ramanan on Sep 29, 09:38 #