Boulder, Have a Lap Dance

It’s really hard to dance nude around Pearl Street without somebody taking notice—or, more accurately, Boulder City Council snooping for ordinance violations. Nitro Club opened discreetly just off Pearl Street before the New Year, offering a booze-free environment complete with the University of Colorado’s finest coeds (and perhaps dropouts) showing it all.

The club’s owner, Michael Cobb, seemed to outsmart the city by avoiding the attention that comes with the liquor licensing process and opened his basement level strip club without officials realizing it. He even added a bring-your-own-booze private club for those who like to sip on a tall boy while enjoying a pole dance. The first week of business went off without a hitch, with tony shoppers never knowing of Nitro’s existence and city leaders completely oblivious to its operation.

Then, the Boulder Daily Camera had to go and do its job, reporting of the quiet opening, causing an uproar in the community and with city council, who for some reason are truly worried that a back alley nudie club will ruin the sanctity of the town. Since the city doesn’t like to be one-upped by the press, or savvy business owners for that matter, it sicced the zoning police on Nitro, nitpicking such things as lack of finger grips on handrails and failure to obtain historic certification to add frosted glass to the main entrance. It looks like officials would rather shutter an alcohol-free strip club than tell residents that a nudie bar in the college town’s popular drinking district isn’t really out of place at all. It’s only a formality before an anti-strip club law for downtown businesses will be on the books.