The Showgirl Video marquee sits unlit on the corner of Garces Ave and Las Vegas Blvd as it awaits for upcoming demolition, Thursday, Aug 22, 2019. the building it occupied will soon be torn down to make way for a marijuana dispensary.
Image Credit: (Christopher DeVargas/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
September 09, 2019 - 8:00 PM
LAS VEGAS - An adult video and bookstore that's believed to have operated the last remaining peep show in the Las Vegas area has closed, marking the end of an era.
Showgirl Video shut down last month after nearly four decades, and the building will soon be torn down to make way for a marijuana dispensary, the Las Vegas Sun reported .
It was believed to be the last place in Sin City with a peep show — where dancers perform behind a window that opened when a customer placed $1 into a machine.
Las Vegas passed an ordinance in 1992 banning sexually oriented businesses along the Strip, but Showgirl Video was grandfathered in under old code.
"Sexually oriented businesses have been supplanted by the internet," said Raymond Pistol, who sold the business in 2016. "You can get anything you want at any time."
The customers at Showgirl Video came from all walks of life, Pistol said. The performers he hired had little experience in the adult entertainment industry.
Victoria Hartmann, director of the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas, said efforts in recent years have tried make the city more "family friendly."
A similar move happened in New York City, with an effort in the mid-90s to increase security in Times Square and close its pornographic theatres and peep shows.
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Information from: Las Vegas Sun, http://www.lasvegassun.com
News from © The Associated Press, 2019