BDSM MEDIA NEWS!!!!
03 september 2011
St. Louis bondage club approved to open on Gravois
Source: www.stltoday.com - Stltoday.com - USA
USA - ST. LOUIS - Joe Kriegesmann spent this weekend relaxing. His bondage and sadomasochism club had finally been approved by the city's Board of Public Service. It has been a while coming.
He says the members-only warehouse on Gravois Avenue is now the first legal for-profit bondage club in the state.
Kriegesmann's club, called Clan of the Barbarian, has already begun hosting classes and events - and
caused quite a stir among aldermen and neighborhood leaders.
It wasn't the whips and chains and hot wax, the leaders said -it was the way Kriegesmann went about applying for the permits. They accused him of obfuscating his intent, lying to the community and even intentionally sidestepping a public hearing.
Kriegesmann vehemently disagreed. Still, the process caught up to him, and
by late last month he stood in front of a conditional use hearing panel, explaining that the club was safe, and would not allow nudity, sex or alcohol.
Kriegesmann said he expected to hear back from the panel within a week or two.
But by the middle of August, he still hadn't heard, and said he was getting passed from office to office in City Hall. Finally, he marched into Planning and Zoning and demanded an update. The worker didn't have one.
"I went off on the guy," he said. "I said this is ridiculous, used a couple other words, then turned around. I was not polite. He just looked at me dumbfounded."
Last week, the Board of Public Service approved his use permit, with a list of conditions.
Now, Kriegesmann said aims to plan a "proper" opening event.
"We've picked up some new members, and I think people are getting over being leery about the city," he said. "It's gonna take a little bit more time, but I think in the next two to three more months, everything will work out the way we figured it would."
"I feel like a ton of bricks has been lifted off me."
