ARTICLE TAKEN FROM LEXUS-NEXUS AND:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc. St. Louis Post-Dispatch March 5, 2000,
Sunday, THREE STAR EDITION SECTION: METRO, Pg. C11
HEADLINE: PROPOSAL FOR A HOOTERS RESTAURANT IS STIRRING A CONTROVERSY IN PEORIA, ILL.; CITY HAS CHANGED SINCE IT WAS CALLED A "GIRLY-GIRLY WHIRL"; STRIP CLUB IS A LANDMARK
BYLINE: Jay Hughes; The Associated Press DATELINE: PEORIA, ILL.
BODY: One of the liveliest conflicts in Peoria concerns the proposal for a Hooters restaurant on the Illinois River waterfront, a confrontation cloaked in legal arguments but with roots in a debate over decency and family values. It has led city officials who are opposed to the highly visible site housing a Hooters, with its signature shapely waitresses dressed in tight tank tops and short-shorts, to spend hours discussing the situation and instruct the city's legal staff to find reasons to block the Atlanta-based restaurant.
The debate has stirred protests from supporters and opponents alike. All of this consternation comes over a site four blocks from one of Peoria's most well-known and cherished landmarks - "World Famous Big Al's" strip club - and across the river from a floating casino. "This is the kind of thing Peoria tends to get pretty involved in. It's just so silly," said David Fry, a lifelong area resident who co-founded a group supporting Hooters. "I think there's also a history of making sure that anything that's objectionable ends up getting quashed." Turmoil began almost as soon as developers Mike Wisdom and Monte Brannan announced in September they had signed Hooters to a 20-year lease at Riverfront Village, a $ 9.5 million project that includes a $ 4.5 million investment from the city for parking and infrastructure. Hooters would become the third restaurant there, joining Damon's Clubhouse and Joe's Crab Shack. Mayor Bud Grieves led initial opposition, urging community leaders to put pressure on the developers to back away from Hooters, at least partly because of concerns about the restaurant's suggestive theme. The city's legal position has evolved. Officials at first argued that under the current parking code, there would not be enough parking spaces to support a third restaurant.
The city now bases its stance on the contract the council approved with the developers. Council members say it earmarks the building Hooters would occupy for retail stores rather than a restaurant. Wisdom and Brannan disagree, arguing that the contract gives them the right to lease to any business that falls within the project's zoning requirements, which they say would include Hooters. Amid the legal maneuvering, Grieves and others have tried to persuade the developers to accept another, less visible, site along the waterfront. Those attempts failed, and the developers earlier this month filed a lawsuit seeking a judge's order compelling the city to drop its opposition. Peoria attorney Robert Hall, whose firm represents both Hooters and the developers, said his clients tried to work with the city for months and the lawsuit was finally filed because they believed there was little chance of finding a compromise that would satisfy all parties. Hall, who acts as local counsel for Hooters, said the chain remains committed to opening a restaurant at Riverfront Village. He said the company's officials have dealt with opposition in other towns, but rarely to the magnitude they have encountered in Peoria. Councilwoman Camille Gibson said she opposes a Hooters at the site because it would breach the contract, a point she thinks some people have lost sight of since much public debate has centered on issues of decency. Gibson said she has heard complaints from numerous constituents unhappy for a variety of reasons. She said some agreed that a Hooters would violate the contract, some believed that Hooters was demeaning to women and others had moral concerns. "For want of a better term, they (opponents) thought it should have some class," she said. "They didn't want restaurant row. This is supposed to be the showplace of Peoria."
There was a time when Hooters would have been considered tame in Peoria. Before the mid-1960s, the River City had something of a reputation as the gleeful home to speakeasies, gambling houses and brothels. In a 1941 story, the Chicago Herald-American reported "the Peoria frame of mind" as one in which the city harbored organized gangsters who provided easy money, cheap women and plenty of booze. A magazine in 1954 described Peoria as "a guzzling, gambling, girly-girly whirl." Now, the city takes a more conservative tone. The Par-A-Dice Casino is located across the Illinois River in East Peoria because of public outcry against a gambling house in Peoria. That doesn't mean the town refuses to trade on such adult amusements. In the "Brag Book" section of the Peoria Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau Web site, the Par-A-Dice is featured alongside attractions such as the Peoria Orchestra and the Glen Oak Zoo. The Web site does not promote the city's most well-known entertainment venue, Big Al's, although the argument could be made that the strip club is so well-known that no advertisement is needed. Gibson said she sees no dual standard in opposing Hooters in the same town that hosts the Midwest's most well-known "gentlemen's club." The difference, she said, is that the Hooters is proposed for a city-subsidized development and Big Al's, just up the bluff, is on private property. Fry, 25, said he thinks there's another reason for this city to oppose Hooters and its skimpy uniforms while never complaining about nudity at Big Al's. "It's an institution," he said. "Hooters isn't yet."