Chicago Strip Club Given Neighborhood Beautification Award

CHICAGO, IL—The Admiral Theatre, the 20-plus-years-old strip club on Lawrence Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Albany Park, is legendary in the adult industry, especially to the various adult stars who have featured there over the years. Nonetheless, it was still something of a surprise to many, though apparently not to local residents and business owners, that the club was recently voted to receive the Albany Park Neighbors' January Award for "helping keep Albany Park beautiful." "Trashy streets impact quality of life for residents in Albany Park—but litter also negatively affects business, too," the group's Web page states. "This effort helps our group of residents recognize and champion local businesses who are going above and beyond in the fight against litter, while also providing great customer service and going the extra mile for our community." For Albany Park, the "above and beyond" sounds pretty basic: keeping a neat sidewalk and storefront, ensuring that there are enough trash cans for the business and reducing the amount of trash patrons bring into the neighborhood. "It's difficult to dispute the Admiral doesn't deserve the award," said Shylo Bisnett, an Albany Park Neighbors member. "They recently upgraded their façade and even during construction it was still tidy, it was still passable." Bisnett and other members of Albany Park Neighbors nominated the Admiral for the award, and voting was carried out on the group's Facebook page, with the Admiral joining seven other local business to receive the honors, which are given quarterly. "The Admiral Theatre stands out on Lawrence Avenue as one of the most attractive and well-maintained buildings in Albany Park," said Alderman Rey Colon of the 35th Ward, where the Admiral is located. "It is my hope that Albany Park Neighbors' recognition of the Admiral Theatre motivates other businesses and property owners to follow their example." Not everyone was quite so pleased about the award. "Really?!" wrote one commenter on the Albany Park website. "This business has to go! They can take that porn shop down the street with them, too. It simply attracts the wrong crowd into the neighborhood." But other local businesspeople fully supported the Admiral's receiving the award. "If you look at their building, they are the cleanest building over on that part of Lawrence Avenue," said Marie Farhat, manager of Noon O Kabab, another award winner. "Whether people like what they do there, I really believe that if you look from the outside, you’d never know it’s a strip club."