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Casselberry Mayor Wants City To Buy Rachel's Strip Club

The mayor of Casselberry wants to buy a strip club. Eyewitness news has learned that Mayor Bob Goff has his eyes on Rachel's. If he can convince other city leaders, his plan will turn pole dances into ballroom dances.

Rachel's is located at State Road 436 and Fern Park, just east of 17-92. The idea may not have legs yet, but the men's club may become a place for church clubs.

"It's possible answer to something we've needed for years," Goff said.

Goff said the city of Casselberry has asked for a community gathering place. And now, with Rachel's on the market, why not?

"An old building or Rachel's fills the bill," Goff said.

Adding to its attraction is a $2 million face lift. Other than the poles and stages, the building could pass as a nice place for a wedding reception, instead of bachelor parties.

The mayor of Casselberry realizes that buying the building would be one thing, but buying the business would be entirely different. The one in Orange County, for instance, recently sold for about $15 million.

At a bare minimum, one insider said, the business would sell for $7 to $9 million, part of the price of changing a struggling city's decades-old image, a city that is down to its last two strip clubs.

"Sin city," Goff said.

As for residents, they seem to embrace the idea after years of trying to look the other way.

"I'm sure some of the wives would be much happier if there husband's go here or boyfriends," said resident Barbara Frazier.

The owner of Rachel's, Jim Viegel, said late Monday afternoon that he has not been approached by the city, but did say he thinks his building would make a nice civic center.

The mayor is waiting for the property tax amendment resolution before presenting his plan to city commissioners.
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