Pharr: Graham's verges on being a strip club

PHARR — A judge has ordered Graham Central Station managers to stop holding wet T-shirt contests to prohibit partial nudity and sexually explicit performances in the club.

The restraining order follows a lawsuit the city of Pharr filed last week accusing the popular nightclub of acting as an unlicensed sexually oriented business.

It appears to represent a new strategy for the city, which is part of a two-pronged attack launched to close down the club. The nightclub's landlord, Houston-based developer Levcor, has also fought to enforce an eviction order club owners have challenged in court. And city officials refused to renew the club's alcohol beverage permit late last year.

The city's current suit is based on a set of nearly 40 photos an undercover police officer shot June 18. In those photos, women are wearing wet T-shirts and some are lifting their tops to expose their breasts.

Other photos show a man in a thong simulating various sex acts with women and cash tucked in a man's thong.

Roger Gearhart, president of Graham Brothers Entertainment - the Odessa-based company that operates Graham Central Stations throughout the United States - dismissed the city's allegations.

"You can come in and find something in any nightclub in any city," Gearhart said Wednesday.

Battle lines

In June, the city sent a letter to Graham's owners, demanding $59,800 in fines for operating without an alcohol beverage permit.

In December, when the city first launched its battle against Graham, officials cited concerns over alleged violence, gang and drug activity at the club in its decision to not consider the club's request to renew its city-issued alcohol beverage permit.

That opened the door for Levcor to attempt to evict Graham, arguing it was not adhering to local laws.

But the club's state alcohol license was still in effect and a jury ruled against Levcor in May.

Levcor has appealed that ruling and is awaiting a decision from a county court, expected in September.

Through it all, Gearhart has maintained the city and Levcor are merely colluding to force Graham's out of its prime spot at Jackson Road and Expressway 83 as they work to revamp El Centro Mall - of which Graham Central Station is a prominent part.

And he and his company are determined to stay out their 10-year lease, scheduled to expire in 2012.

"Graham Central Station controls its own destiny," Pharr City Attorney Mike Pruneda said Wednesday. "If they want to be there, all they have to do is operate legally."

‘Worse and worse'

Complicating matters now is the fact Graham's state liquor license finally expired and is pending renewal. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission usually considers input from cities when determining whether to renew a license.

Gearhart said his office will not seek to renew the license, but club owners don't plan to leave their spot either.

He said plans are to soon close the night club and re-establish it as an upscale, BYOB billiards & sports bar, despite Levcor's plans for the mall.

"I don't want to be anywhere I'm not wanted," Gearhart said. "But this is like a divorce. Just because you found a prettier wife doesn't mean I've got to move along."

The temporary restraining order also prohibits "wrestling or tumbling" among members of the opposite sex, as well as dance movements or routines that involve genital fondling and simulated sex acts.

Employees and entertainers are also prohibited from allowing "any person to expose or display... genitals, breast nipples, areola, bare buttocks, bare upper thigh, bare midriff, bare back (and) bare breast," among other restrictions.

The city says sexual acts are prohibited at Graham's, since it isn't a licensed sexually oriented business. And even if it did hold such a license, the club violates a law prohibiting sexual entertainment within 6 feet of patrons, Pruneda said.

"The city of Pharr has been very, very patient with Graham," he said. "We've tried to work with them as best we could. It's getting worse and worse."

____

Ryan Holeywell covers PSJA, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.