heartoflesh
Puritan Board Junior
If the nightclub's a church, the strip club may not open
The Minneapolis City Council is to vote on the nature of a downtown nightspot.
Terry Collins, Star Tribune
In the hottest nightlife district in Minneapolis, Club Three Degrees features a three-level, 18,000-square-foot venue with live bands, a state-of-the-art sound system and a concert hot line. But its owners say the Christian nightspot is best described as a church.
If the Minneapolis City Council agrees with Club Three Degrees today, that means the council can prevent the opening of Divas Gentleman's Club, a nearby establishment where dancers would strip totally nude.
"It's shades of a fine gray line," Council Member Gary Schiff said. "You don't hit a more volatile combination of religious and adult uses than this one."
The dispute is the latest in a broader effort by governments to limit where topless bars and other adult businesses can locate. A federal lawsuit filed last month by adult businesses in Minneapolis and Duluth targeted a new state law and a city ordinance that set distances those businesses must be from churches, schools and homes.
The debate at the Minneapolis council meeting is whether Three Degrees' claim as a church is enough to uphold a city ordinance that no sexually themed business "shall be allowed within 500 feet of a religious institution place of assembly."
The owners of Divas are seeking a business license in the Warehouse District, which the city has designated as its adult entertainment zone. Yet Divas' intended location, 417 2nd Av. N., is 298 feet, across the street and around the corner from Three Degrees, 113 N. 5th St.
'We're in limbo'
"We've done nothing wrong," Mike Nigal, a co-owner of Divas, said this week. "I feel like we're in limbo. All of our zoning and planning forms have been approved."
Nigal said that he and another owner have a five-year lease and have spent nearly $50,000 on the building, which is between Quest and The Lounge nightclubs.
"But someone thinks we're a problem," Nigal said.
That would be the faith-based Three Degrees, one of the city's biggest nightclubs and at the time of its high-profile opening in 2003, the nation's largest urban Christian nightclub, with room for as many as 1,700 patrons.
Club Three Degrees is already near two strip clubs. One of them, Dreamgirls, is within 500 feet, but it was there first.
Last week, Three Degrees co-founder Nancy Aleksuk told the City Council's public safety and regulatory services committee that the club has always been upfront about its Christian identity and is "presenting the gospel message in a contemporary way."
The committee voted to recommend that the council deny Divas a business license. Council Members Cam Gordon, Paul Ostrow and Don Samuels each voted that Three Degrees, which holds worship services on Sunday and Wednesday nights, falls into the "religious assembly" category.
Schiff was the lone committee member who voted that Divas should be licensed.
"They've always presented themselves as a nightclub until this issue came up," Schiff said of Three Degrees.
Schiff said that in Three Degrees' website and subsequent documents, the place clearly describes itself as "a nonalcoholic, smoke-free Christian nightclub."
"They have religious activities, but they don't operate as a church, in my opinion," Schiff said.
In response, Aleksuk said, "A book can't always be judged by its cover without looking at the contents."
She said Wednesday that Three Degrees has always considered itself, "a ministry," since it began in 1989 as "Living Free," in the basement of the Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park. Soon after, the church bought the former Union Bar at 507 Hennepin Av., and renamed it the New Union.
The third location
The club moved northeast, to 3141 Central Av. in 1995, while also spending several years looking for a downtown locale. They chose the name Three Degrees because it's the club's third building and the number 3 has many biblical references.
Wednesday night at Three Degrees, more than 60 people -- diverse in age, race and attire -- sat at candlelit tables for a moving 90-minute service.
A young-looking pastor onstage raised the questions: "Have you repented? Have you been converted?"
After a handful came forth for special prayers, Aleksuk reminded the congregation about today's council meeting. She urged them to speak up against Divas and call six council members whose phone numbers were listed on small fliers nearby.
She also led the energized group into a pop-rock tune with a chorus she thought was appropriate.
"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, so talk about it," they sang.
"... Say so, so talk about it!"
The Minneapolis City Council is to vote on the nature of a downtown nightspot.
Terry Collins, Star Tribune
In the hottest nightlife district in Minneapolis, Club Three Degrees features a three-level, 18,000-square-foot venue with live bands, a state-of-the-art sound system and a concert hot line. But its owners say the Christian nightspot is best described as a church.
If the Minneapolis City Council agrees with Club Three Degrees today, that means the council can prevent the opening of Divas Gentleman's Club, a nearby establishment where dancers would strip totally nude.
"It's shades of a fine gray line," Council Member Gary Schiff said. "You don't hit a more volatile combination of religious and adult uses than this one."
The dispute is the latest in a broader effort by governments to limit where topless bars and other adult businesses can locate. A federal lawsuit filed last month by adult businesses in Minneapolis and Duluth targeted a new state law and a city ordinance that set distances those businesses must be from churches, schools and homes.
The debate at the Minneapolis council meeting is whether Three Degrees' claim as a church is enough to uphold a city ordinance that no sexually themed business "shall be allowed within 500 feet of a religious institution place of assembly."
The owners of Divas are seeking a business license in the Warehouse District, which the city has designated as its adult entertainment zone. Yet Divas' intended location, 417 2nd Av. N., is 298 feet, across the street and around the corner from Three Degrees, 113 N. 5th St.
'We're in limbo'
"We've done nothing wrong," Mike Nigal, a co-owner of Divas, said this week. "I feel like we're in limbo. All of our zoning and planning forms have been approved."
Nigal said that he and another owner have a five-year lease and have spent nearly $50,000 on the building, which is between Quest and The Lounge nightclubs.
"But someone thinks we're a problem," Nigal said.
That would be the faith-based Three Degrees, one of the city's biggest nightclubs and at the time of its high-profile opening in 2003, the nation's largest urban Christian nightclub, with room for as many as 1,700 patrons.
Club Three Degrees is already near two strip clubs. One of them, Dreamgirls, is within 500 feet, but it was there first.
Last week, Three Degrees co-founder Nancy Aleksuk told the City Council's public safety and regulatory services committee that the club has always been upfront about its Christian identity and is "presenting the gospel message in a contemporary way."
The committee voted to recommend that the council deny Divas a business license. Council Members Cam Gordon, Paul Ostrow and Don Samuels each voted that Three Degrees, which holds worship services on Sunday and Wednesday nights, falls into the "religious assembly" category.
Schiff was the lone committee member who voted that Divas should be licensed.
"They've always presented themselves as a nightclub until this issue came up," Schiff said of Three Degrees.
Schiff said that in Three Degrees' website and subsequent documents, the place clearly describes itself as "a nonalcoholic, smoke-free Christian nightclub."
"They have religious activities, but they don't operate as a church, in my opinion," Schiff said.
In response, Aleksuk said, "A book can't always be judged by its cover without looking at the contents."
She said Wednesday that Three Degrees has always considered itself, "a ministry," since it began in 1989 as "Living Free," in the basement of the Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park. Soon after, the church bought the former Union Bar at 507 Hennepin Av., and renamed it the New Union.
The third location
The club moved northeast, to 3141 Central Av. in 1995, while also spending several years looking for a downtown locale. They chose the name Three Degrees because it's the club's third building and the number 3 has many biblical references.
Wednesday night at Three Degrees, more than 60 people -- diverse in age, race and attire -- sat at candlelit tables for a moving 90-minute service.
A young-looking pastor onstage raised the questions: "Have you repented? Have you been converted?"
After a handful came forth for special prayers, Aleksuk reminded the congregation about today's council meeting. She urged them to speak up against Divas and call six council members whose phone numbers were listed on small fliers nearby.
She also led the energized group into a pop-rock tune with a chorus she thought was appropriate.
"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, so talk about it," they sang.
"... Say so, so talk about it!"
