OVERVIEW

Atlanta has plenty of bragging rights (The Olympics, Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-a, the Fox Theatre etc.), but perhaps one of our most iconic treasures is a dive strip club, The Clermont Lounge.  Opening its doors in 1965, in the basement of the Clermont Hotel, The Clermont Lounge is the longest running strip club in Atlanta history.  In a city famous for its adult entertainment, “The Lounge” certainly reigns supreme when it comes to character.  It is much more than a seedy dive with elderly strippers.  It has architectural clout, cultural significance, a rich history, and for many, a visit to this haunt has become a right of passage.  But, with the hotel foreclosed upon and its rooms being shut-down by the Department of Health, the Lounge (which remains open) and the hotel’s future remain quite uncertain.

Sidewalk Radio’s very first show will answer the burning question: What’s so important about The Clermont Hotel & The Clermont Lounge, and why should they be saved?

Boyd Coons, Executive Director of The Atlanta Preservation Center, joins us to offer his expertise about Atlanta’s important properties and to share with us the context the hotel embodies from a preservationist’s perspective.

On the architectural side of things, we’re happy to have Mike Gamble, principal of Gamble & Gamble Architects, a tenured Professor of Architecture at Georgia Tech, and Grand Prize Winner of the Clermont Hotel Design Competition, sharing his vision about what The Clermont can become.

Long-time Clermont bouncer and de facto spokesperson, DJ, also stops by to share the good, the bad and the awesome about the iconic lounge.

And, for the real treat, Atlanta Icon and The Clermont Lounge’s legendary, beer-crushing, exotic dancer, Blondie, joins us in the studio for an arousing interview and a poetry reading of her own work.

You’re in for a wild ride.  Join us for a listen.