Last dance for Jacksonville strip club with history of gun violence

JACKSONVILLE, FL – After years of controversy, Mascaras Gentlemen’s Club located connected Southside Blvd., conscionable North of Beach Blvd is yet closing its doors astatine that location.

News4JAX has learned from aggregate sources that the proprietor of the spot has discontinued the lease with Mascaras which takes effect January 1, 2022.

Nearby neighbors who reached retired to News4Jax astir their conversations with the spot owner, said they were elated to larn the proprietor discontinued the lease. All of the neighbors we spoke with asked not to beryllium identified for information reasons.

“This volition beryllium a large mode to commencement the twelvemonth retired due to the fact that we person been putting up with this for truthful long,” said 1 neighbor.

“I’m precise relieved that they’re being closed,” said different neighbor.

Mascaras has been embroiled successful contention that dates backmost much than a decade.

This past summer, metropolis councilmen Matt Carlucci and Kevin Carrico announced plans to enactment unneurotic authorities to state Mascaras a nationalist nuisance that would unit the nine to unopen down.

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“We’re closing it. That’s the champion we tin do. We’re going to adjacent it,” said Carlucci backmost successful August aft proceeding complaints from aggregate neighbors and researching documented convulsive incidents associated with the club.

The plans to person the nine closed besides followed an Early August shooting extracurricular the nine that near 1 antheral dormant and 2 different men hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. According to police, the incidental happened aft the nine had closed and patrons were emptying the building.

“Gunfire broke out. I mean it broke retired similar brainsick and this 1 feline was moving down Patten Road and helium was shooting the weapon down him arsenic helium was running,” said a neighbour who witnessed that August shooting incident.

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Nine years earlier the August shooting, a 29-year-old antheral was changeable and killed wrong the club. The pursuing year, a 21-year aged antheral was changeable and killed astatine the club. Following the decease of the 21-year-old, JSO said officers had responded to the nine 8 times betwixt 2010 and 2013.

Frank Coleone is the proprietor of Mascaras. He told News4JAX that helium disagreed with his nine being labeled a nationalist nuisance.

“They’re wrong. You cognize I ever respect the vicinity and I effort to bash my champion to support everybody harmless astir here.  I mean erstwhile you travel into the club, you get a pat-down positive a metallic detector,” Coleone said.

His household ran the big amusement concern for 13 years.

“It’s thing that’s truly adjacent to our hearts, but you cognize it is what it is,” Coleone said.

Friday night, Mascaras held a New Year’s Eve bash called ‘Mascaras Last Dance.’ The intent of the enactment was to invited successful the caller twelvemonth and spell retired with a bang. An worker told News4JAX that erstwhile dancers who had worked astatine the constitution wrong the past 13 years had travel backmost to spot for the past enactment earlier the doors were closed for good.

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