Mar. 15—Lamplighter Lounge, St. Paul's only strip club that has been in the city's crosshairs after a number of shootings, including the killing a woman in the parking lot in 2020, has shut down.

A spokeswoman for the city's department of safety and Inspections said Tuesday they have been notified that Lamplighter would be canceling its licenses. Signs have been taken off the building, which was located in a strip mall at Larpenteur Avenue and Rice Street.

Kim O'Brien, executive director of the Rice & Larpenteur Alliance, said Tuesday that she received an email from the building owner confirming the business is closed permanently. In an email to the group's board of advisors, she called it a "big day in the neighborhood."

"I believe this to be a great outcome and opportunity for a new beginning for the neighborhood that has suffered so much from the violence, negativity, and pain that the business brought with it," she wrote.

Strippers at the Lamplighter appeared unclothed behind a pane of glass or hard plastic while patrons drink in the bar of an adjoining room. The physical separations allowed the club to effectively flout city rules against nude bars, but city officials say the lounge had nevertheless been a magnet for trouble, prompting fierce opposition from neighborhood residents and community groups.

ST. PAUL SOUGHT TO CLOSE CLUB

A year ago, the St. Paul City Council sought to close down the club, holding an emotional public impact session to gauge how the nightclub has affected neighborhood residents. However, the council did not have the authority to do so and was legally required to renew its liquor license.

Opposition hit a boiling point following the June 2020 killing of Nia Black, a 23-year-old cosmetologist who was shot outside the club. About two months later, former employees reportedly fought in the bar.

Previous incidents include a shooting in the lot on July 9, 2019; a report of shots fired on Sept. 21, 2018; a shooting in the lot on Sept. 11, 2018; an assault in the parking lot on June 8, 2018; and a parking lot assault on May 26, 2018. Jauan E. Love, 37, was shot dead in the parking lot on Sept. 29, 2017.

As a result of those incidents and numerous neighborhood complaints, the city's department of safety recommended the Lamplighter's license be referred to the city attorney's office for a formal review of potential penalties or adverse action, including possible license revocation.

'A LOT OF THINGS COMING TOGETHER'

O'Brien said she believes the closure "is the result of a lot of things coming together."

She said community members, especially Mothers Against Community Gun Violence, put pressure on the business and called for accountability. The city council held a public hearing "in which many of us finally got to say out loud the devastating impact the business had on this community, and who heard the community and sent a strong message that it would no longer be tolerated," O'Brien said.

The city also just imposed strict license conditions on the business, according to O'Brien, adding that they "may have been the final blow."

The spokeswoman for the city's department of safety and inspections said they had come up with recommended conditions on the Lamplighter's licenses, but they had not yet been proposed to the city council.

'THE COMMUNITY HAS REALLY SHOWN UP'

LaTanya Black, Nia's mother, said Tuesday she has mixed emotions over the closure of the place where her daughter was killed.

"I'm so excited," she said. "And this is a sad day, because I miss my daughter and I hate for my daughter to have to be the vessel of which this level of advocacy came through. But at the same time I feel joy because this community is one step closer to being a safe, thriving community."

Soon after her daughter's death, Black started Mothers Against Community Gun Violence, working with other mothers of homicide victims to bring gun-violence awareness to the community, and holding support groups and "peace walks."

"The community really has shown up, and this took place because of all of us working collectively," she said.