As an Ypsilanti resident I find myself wondering how I can improve this city, and although I can think of at least a dozen things that would make things better there are very few that I can have any influence over. The biggest one is the Deja Vu strip-club.
One of the first things I looked for when I moved to the Ypsilanti area was an indie movie theater, but I found none. I drove around to get a better look at the downtown and spotted the Deja Vu. The first thing I saw was the theater-like sign out front, and immediately I though, 'Oh great, there is a theater here after all!' But then I saw that the sign said something about nude girls and realized my error.
Upon further research I learned that the building currently housing the Deja Vu was once called the Martha Washington theater, a small independent movie house in the heart of downtown Ypsi. Over time I came to the conclusion that one of the best ways to improve the city of Ypsilanti would be to get rid of the Deja Vu, and another great way to improve Ypsilanti would be to have a movie theater downtown. The best possible outcome would be to do both at the same time, and flip an eye-sore into an attraction. This blog was created as a way to get discussion about the issue into the open, and hopefully to generate some action to get something done about it.
Let me say up front that I harbor no ill-will towards the owners/operators of the Deja Vu, and that I appreciate their right to operate their business as they see fit. My cheif concern, however, is the quality of our downtown, and in the best interest of the community I find it necessary to take the position that a strip-club is just not the best use for that space, and that they ought to move the business elsewhere.
2 comments:
The Martha Washington theater, or the Deja Vu (chain of stripclubs) has had it's interior radically reworked. I was hoping to find a theatre like stage and such. Does not exist. The room has been leveled and bares no resemblance to a movie theater. I agree that the Vu is an eyesore, but clearly whoever owns it does not care about that. I wonder what it looked like in it's heyday.
As much as an Indy Theater might tickle you, there are two distinct disadvantages to what your propose. First off, though the building may have been a movie theater at one point, you need to look into the history of why it was closed down. And secondly, job ops. How many people can you employ at an indy theater that no one will go to any way? Nearly as many as works at the Deja Vu now? I think not. Though you might not agree, and think that the club is an eye sore, the number of college students who depend on that club to get them through school is huge. You can not provide that kind of money for those students with an indy theater. You really want to put one in, then look across the bridge at Depot Town. Better area for it for one, and further from South Town. Think about.
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