Despite objections from local residents and one District city councilman, the Washington, D.C. Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration recently renewed the liquor license for the Stadium Club, a hip-hop strip club.
The club was under a six-month review, having been closed and reopened repeatedly due to shootings and stabbings over the past two years.
The club, now under new management, met opposition from Langdon-Woodridge neighborhood residents who said they were tired of the noise, trash, and crime the club produced. The city administration held a formal hearing where residents expressed their concerns about the club. Stadium’s management said they corrected the previous problems and would be a better neighbor.
After examining a petition signed by 98 residents, a letter from a local Advisory Neighborhood Commission member, another from Councilman Kenyan R. McDuffie, live testimonies, and the nightclub’s previous history, the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration said the list of grievances was valid, but could not be attributed to the club’s new management.
Current owner Rudolph Thomas obtained Stadium last year after its previous owners defaulted on their loan. Since acquiring the establishment, Thomas has hired a new operating staff, doubled its security, and enforced a new, tighter dress code. Thomas presented these changes to the city board to defend their case and to help alleviate the concerns of their neighbors.
“This is a new Stadium,” manager Anthony Morse said, “We’re committed to entertainment, yes, but we’re also committed to upholding a standard of excellence.”
Morse said that the changes are not entirely related to the issues of the neighborhood, but speak to the management’s desire to update the club’s atmosphere.
“We, of course, consider the shortcomings of the previous management and the affect they had on the community, but we walked in prepared to change things,” Morse said. “It’s a win-win.”
Residents disagreed. Karla Butler, a former member of the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, represented the Langdon-Woodridge residents with the help of an attorney during the three hour hearing.
“It saddens me that the board decided to exclude how the community continues to be barraged with dangerous incidents,” Butler said. “Of course the residents are frustrated, but we respect the government’s decision.”
It will be three years before the club’s liquor license comes up for review again.
“In the meantime, we can only hope and pray for everyone’s safety,” Butler said.