Man who lost bid to open nightclub in East Cape speaks up

CAIRO, Ill. -- When James McReynolds lost his bid to open a nightclub in East Cape Girardeau because the town council wouldn't issue a business license, he kept quiet.

But when he saw that Mayor Joe Aden had no problems with plans to transform the old Purple Crackle into a strip club because "we need all the sales tax money we can get," McReynolds decided to break his silence.

The story begins in the spring of 2005, when McReynolds signed a lease for a building on the north side of Illinois Highway 146 and obtained a sales tax license from the Illinois Department of Revenue. He said he approached East Cape Girardeau leaders about a business license and was first cold-shouldered, then told to apply and pay the $20 fee.

The plan, McReynolds said, was to open an after-hours club where people could dance. There would be no alcohol sales, but people could bring liquor into the establishment.

He said he set those guidelines for the business so it wouldn't interfere with the package liquor business operating out of the Purple Crackle building.

"I told them exactly what I was going to do," McReynolds said.

The pieces seemed to fit, McReynolds said. The building he chose, which currently houses Mr. Ed's Trading Post, was vacant for about six months prior to him signing a lease and was vacant for about three months after he was turned down for a business license.

"I knew a lot of people were looking for something to do after the bars in Cape closed," McReynolds said. "There isn't a lot of things geared toward that particular group. I saw a business opportunity, and I wanted to take advantage of it."

McReynolds was willing to make concessions, such as no drinking, to open the business, he said. "Even if they had said they'd rather not have any liquor, I could still have done it. But they gave me no answer. They just said 'thank you' and sent me on my way."

When his turn came for a vote at the town council, none of the members would make a motion to approve his plan. "Everyone simultaneously put their heads down and stared at their shoes, denying me my business license," McReynolds said. "You could have heard a pin drop."

Since news reports have revealed that the Purple Crackle's new proprietor, Stephanie Capps of Paducah, Ky., plans to open a "gentlemen's club," the town council has been the object of protesters complaining that the new business will hurt the town.

But Aden has said there was little he could do to stop the new business. He and other council members have said they didn't know what kind of business the new operators planned. And because the new operators have a two-year lease, he said after a recent meeting, the council cannot prevent the club from opening.

McReynolds said, he, too, had a lease but that apparently didn't sway the council. He believes that he was rejected, in part, because he is black and much of his clientele would likely also be black.

"I think bringing a black business with a mostly black clientele was definitely a problem," McReynolds said. "I wasn't even given a chance to prove what kind of person I am or what kind of business I would run."

McReynolds is an experienced businessman. He was a manager at Buyer's Choice Auto Sales in Cape Girardeau for eight years and a manager of a finance company.

Race didn't play any role in the decision against McReynolds, Aden said Friday. The key to the decision, he said, is that East Cape Girardeau's ordinances only allow for one business with a liquor license.

"I called for a motion twice," Aden said of the meeting where McReynolds was turned down. "They just didn't make the motion to accept."

Town board member David Pearce, owner of the Purple Crackle, said he didn't like McReynolds' plan because there is limited parking at the building he chose for his nightclub.

"People would have been parking on the streets and everywhere else," Pearce said. "It wouldn't have been a good situation."

McReynolds, however, believes those reasons are excuses. "They never once objected or asked me if there was any way I could do anything different to make it more appealing to the village," he said. "I think they were most concerned with how to get this deal over with without getting sued."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126