(June 25, 2008)

The police department has fielded some complaints about the Roxy Show Club during its soft opening over the last week. While officers investigate it, the club remains open as the owner said it's not a topless club.

Walking into the Roxy Show Club, you'd think you were in a topless bar. It has four stages and entertainers dance for their customers, but the owner said not so fast.

"We are not a topless bar," said Joel Vela, owner of the Roxy Show Club. "The entertainers wear pasties, latex paint with pasties, but they perform dances for patrons."

Vela said he has run similar clubs like this in San Antonio and Houston.

"This is what is in compliance and they still want to look into it and try to go further into singling me out as far as running me out of town," Vela said. 

The Corpus Christi Police Chief's office received several complaints about this new club that opened within the past week. So officers are looking into it and they're asking the City Attorney's office to determine if it's a sexually oriented business.

"We're trying to determine what he's doing and whether it's legal or not, whether he needs a permit or not," said Capt. Mark Schauer of the Corpus Christi Police Department. 

If it is determined to be a sexually oriented business, then the Roxy cannot operate in the downtown area and must get a permit, but the owners said he's running an upscale establishment, aimed at a certain clientele.

"It's a very strict dress code here," said Vela. "Drugs and prostitution will not be allowed here."

That's the owner's stance. Now the question is: will the city agree with him?

Manuel De La Rosa, 3 News