FDOT and the Doll House

[Jaxson]

State to strip Doll House nude dance club from Atlantic Boulevard

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-01-26/story/state-strip-doll-house-nude-dance-club-atlantic-boulevard#ixzz1CCYsIJOz

By Larry Hannan

The Florida Department of Transportation is about to do what the Jacksonville City Council couldn’t: Strip a nude dance club from its site on Atlantic Boulevard in the St. Nicholas neighborhood.


The Doll House at 2220 Atlantic Blvd. will be seized by the state and demolished as part of a plan to replace the Overland Bridge, an elevated section of Interstate 95 south of the Fuller Warren Bridge. Charlie Hartsock,  who has operated the Doll House for 25 years, confirmed Wednesday that the state will take his property.


A new access road from northbound I-95 to Atlantic Boulevard will be constructed as part of the Overland Bridge replacement. A retention pond will go in the area where the Doll House now sits.


Hartsock will move the Doll House to a new location but declined to say where it would be.


“If I told you where I was going,” Hartsock said, “the city would try to stop me.”

Hartsock has fought attempts by the city to kick him out. The Doll House is located across the street from Assumption Catholic Church and Bishop Kenny High School.


In 2005, City Council barred adult businesses from operating within 500 feet of a home and 1,000 feet of schools and churches. Council also revoked a grandfather clause that would have allowed the Doll House to stay on Atlantic Boulevard and required it to close or move within five years.


The Doll House along with New Solid Gold Club on Blanding Boulevard and Sinsations on Emerson Street sued, saying council had no right to kick them out.


General Counsel Cindy Laquidara  said the city won the case in United States District Court. That decision was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, and the two sides are awaiting a ruling.


While the issue may soon be moot for the Doll House, the other establishments will still be impacted by the ruling, said Attorney Larry Walters,  who represents the clubs.


Former Councilwoman Suzanne Jenkins, who represented the St. Nicholas area and pushed City Council to evict the Doll House, expressed delight Wednesday that the establishment would soon be gone.


“It’s a place that when you ride by,” Jenkins said of the Doll House, “you try to hide your eyes to avoid looking at it.”


Jenkins acknowledged the irony of the state easily accomplishing something that the city had struggled to do.


“Whatever it takes, I guess,” she said.


Councilman Don Redman,  who succeeded Jenkins, also said he was glad the Doll House would soon be gone.


“I just wish the state had told us they were going to do this years ago,” Redman said. “It would have saved us a lot of time.”


The state is evicting the Doll House under eminent domain laws, which means FDOT must pay Hartsock what the land and his business are worth.
The city has tried to kick him out, without ever offering him money, Hartsock said.


“I was willing to move years ago if the city would give me another place,” he said.


Hartsock estimated the land and business are worth $1.5 million. The Duval County Property appraiser values it at $128,000.


“I’m sure I’ll get a lot less [than $1.5 million],” he said. “But I’ll wait and bide my time because who knows when the state is actually going to do this.”


Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2012 or early 2013 and conclude in the summer of 2016.


The $224 million project is expected to disrupt traffic on I-95 from north of Palm Avenue to south of San Diego Road, over Hendricks, King and Montana avenues.


This section of I-95, one of the most heavily traveled in Jacksonville, is structurally deficient and needs to be torn down, FDOT says. Daily average traffic counts conducted by the state in 2009 have traffic ranging from 172,000 vehicles using the roadway just off the Fuller Warren Bridge to 120,000 using the road south of Hendricks Avenue.


When finished, the project will surpass the recently completed intersection improvements at interstates 10 and 95 as the most expensive road construction project in Jacksonville history. That project cost about $200 million and took six years to complete, from 2005-2010.


The access road would run from south of the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts to the Main Street and Acosta bridges. It is designed to keep traffic out of the downtown and allow people to get on and off I-95 without having to change lanes as much as they do now.


Motorists who want to get off I-95 northbound and go downtown will have to get onto the access road first before reaching a downtown exit. The access road will take motorists to the two bridges, as well as the new exit on Atlantic Boulevard, which will remain in place after construction concludes.


The state has declined to provide the addresses of homes or businesses it is planning to seize as part of the project, but all landowners have been notified that their properties might be taken. Under state law, FDOT doesn’t have to say it’s taking a specific piece of property until it reaches an agreement to purchase the land, or until the state files suit to seize the property via eminent domain.


Project Manager Brandi Vittur  said the state estimates 64 properties will be seized, including 56 homes, 6 businesses and 2 churches.


Several businesses to the west of the Doll House are also expected to be torn down.


Steve Schoonmaker,  whose family owns Van’s Auto Body next door to the Doll House, said he’ll definitely lose his business.


“Life would be a lot simpler if we knew how much money we’d be getting,” Schoonmaker said. “We also have no clue where we’re going.”


But as long as the money is fair, he can accept it and find a new location, Schoonmaker said.


Last year James Bennett, an FDOT development engineer, said most homeowners impacted will be in the areas around Southampton Road and Crawford Street. Several Southampton Road residents have told the Times-Union the state plans to take their homes.

larry.hannan@jacksonville.com
(904) 359-4470

Source: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-01-26/story/state-strip-doll-house-nude-dance-club-atlantic-boulevard

[RiversideLoki]

I prefer the Gold Club anyways... have you seen the girls at the Doll house? *shudder*

[Shwaz]

I went to the Doll House on my 18th birthday... all nude is a bad thing IMO. The place was full of biker creeps that sat quietly at a table of 1... until a dancer would do something dirty... then they all started barking like dogs. The building is so small inside and it smells like a butthole.

Tear it down...

[Jaxson]

I have been there and saw nothing more than a middle-of-the-road strip joint.  It's not really all that classy and it is not that trashy...  For the record, I do not recall seeing or hearing any rowdy behavior while I was there...  Considering that we are in Jacksonville, I doubt that we will have any adult entertainment scene that will rival that of Tampa or Orlando...

[acme54321]

Good riddance.

[Lucasjj]

This place can't be any worse than Cinderellas at McDuff and Post. I drive by that place heading out to 17. I can't image who actually goes there or better yet who dances there.

[RiversideLoki]

This place can't be any worse than Cinderellas at McDuff and Post. I drive by that place heading out to 17. I can't image who actually goes there or better yet who dances there.

Oh god.. I haven't even let the thought cross my mind to letting the thought cross my mind of going in that place. I've heard various stories.. mostly that they cater to fringe fetishes.. I met a "dancer" from there at the Kangaroo on McDuff and 17. I'll refrain from describing her out of respect for your desire to eat dinner.

[Timkin]

C-ya , Doll House.   I second, good riddance.

[mtraininjax]

C-ya , Doll House.   I second, good riddance.

Wow, wanting to tear stuff down, amazing, I suppose we do some demo of condemed houses elsewhere too? Or is that too much to ask for?

[Timkin]

C-ya , Doll House.   I second, good riddance.

Wow, wanting to tear stuff down, amazing, I suppose we do some demo of condemed houses elsewhere too? Or is that too much to ask for?

?

[acme54321]

C-ya , Doll House.   I second, good riddance.

Wow, wanting to tear stuff down, amazing, I suppose we do some demo of condemed houses elsewhere too? Or is that too much to ask for?

Someone must be a regular!

[buckethead]

I likes me some dirty feet!

[Dog Walker]

They should rename I-95 to  "The Highway That Ate Jacksonville".  It's not just the Doll House that is being taken by the ROW, but about twenty houses too.

When will FDOT stop expanding the damn thing?

[JeffreyS]

I think the parameters for highway expansion in Florida are Atlantic and Gulf.

[duvaldude08]

They should rename I-95 to  "The Highway That Ate Jacksonville".  It's not just the Doll House that is being taken by the ROW, but about twenty houses too.

When will FDOT stop expanding the damn thing?

Exactly! This is getting ridiculous. Building more and more highways is not the answer. I watched a special on PBS one night about when I-95 was built. The building of 95 literally destroyed neighborhoods. If you notice, 95 Rips right down the middle of the northside.