Wilmington-area strip club closed for good
(File)
Declared a criminal nuisance property, the doors to the Gold Club on South Market Street have been shut permanently.
This latest action by the Delaware Dept. of Justice put the final nail in the strip club’s coffin. The club located just outside of Wilmington city limits had been temporarily closed after the DOJ filed a nuisance action against it in November 2015.
That initial filing was the result of numerous arrests at, near or coming from the property for shootings, including a murder earlier that November. The owners reopened the business as the Fantasia Lounge at the start of 2016, promising to improve security and not operate as an adult entertainment venue.
Earlier this month, the Delaware State Police conducted an undercover investigation into the property, only to find club owners violating several conditions of the January court order and state law; chief among them, the property was still providing adult entertainment.
Shortly thereafter, the DOJ asked a judge to shut down the Gold Club for good.
“In our original complaint a few months ago, we noted police had been called to the property almost 240 times in four years,” said Attorney General Matt Denn. “The fact that the owners would continue, in the face of a court order, to operate in a way that promotes violence, drug activity, and other crime, emphasized the need for its permanent closure.”
According to the court order, the owners or anyone tied to the existing ownership of the Gold Club is not allowed to open a business there without permission from the court.
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