Work resuming on Floyd Hill; expect overnight closings

PAGE 7 WEEKLY REGISTER-CALLApril 24, 2025

Which will come ﬁrst: bed races or a strip club?

There’s an age-old debate:

Which came first, the chicken

or the egg?

In Central City, the discus-

sion about this summer’s

anticipated events has become

another topic of debate. The

question goes something like

this: “Which will happen first:

the opening for the new Rick’s

Cabaret and Steakhouse or the

start of the annual Madam Lou

Bunch Day bed races?” (Coin-

cidentally, both events will take

place around 130 Main Street.)

If any of Central’s six casinos

were to take bets on the subject,

it would be fascinating to hear

which would be regarded as the

odds-on favorite.

To be certain, one part of the

potential bet is known: Cen-

Lou Bunch Day is scheduled

for Saturday, June 14, the day

before Father’s Day. The event

typically attracts hundreds of

onlookers who see teams of

men and women sporting vari-

ous nightgowns while pushing

a bed down Main Street and

back.

However, it remains unclear

if the bed races will occur

before or after provocatively

dressed servers serve drinks in-

side RCI Hospitality Holdings’

Rick’s Cabaret and Steakhouse

in Central City.

The opening date remains

a question that RCI CEO and

President Eric Langan was un-

able to address during an exclu-

sive interview with the Weekly

Register-Call last week. “I don’t

know. We don’t even have gas

in the building yet.”

A “gas problem” developed

when a runaway recreational

vehicle crashed into the south

end of the Rick’s Cabaret

building on Friday, Nov. 22.

It damaged part of the brick

façade and destroyed the Xcel

Energy line and service meter

that provides natural gas for

the building. Originally, Langan

had hopes of opening the new

business in early February.

However, the opening date was

changed after the RV incident.

The brick exterior has been

repaired in recent weeks.

However, the installation of

the new natural gas line has

not progressed as quickly. The

line has been relocated from

the end of the building to a spot

on the eastern (Spring Street)

side, where it is less likely to

be struck again by a runaway

RV or a wheeled bed that was

pushed in the wrong direction.

“We’ve got the gas line, but

we don’t have the meter yet be-

cause they have to do a pressure

test,” said Langan. “Without

gas, it’s not warm enough inside

for workers to finish painting.

ing) system also can’t fully

Once that puzzle piece is in

place, the booths and seating

for the second-floor steakhouse

will be shipped to Central City.

“The furniture is sitting in

Miami. It’s already built,” com-

mented Langan. “We can drive

it up here in about three days.

All we have to do is load it into

the semi-truck and drive it up

Langan doesn’t anticipate

holding a job fair for those who

might want to work at Rick’s

Cabaret – at least, not initially.

“We have some staffing in Den-

ver [we can use up here]. We’re

going to hire a few people, but

we won’t do that until three

weeks from opening. Right

now, we’re not three weeks

away from opening – I can tell

“I would like to open May

22, but it probably will be June

based on what I’m seeing right

now,” exclaimed Langan, who

expressed frustration over the

gas-line situation. “Without

gas, I don’t have heat. Without

gas, I don’t have hot water. We

could probably turn the water

on around Mother’s Day with-

out gas because it shouldn’t

freeze after that. We’ve got

HVAC work that’s been held

up, so we can’t close up the ceil-

ings. It got warm last week, so

we did some painting; however,

not all the painting is done. If

it gets cold again, we can’t do

it because paint doesn’t dry

properly without heat.

“There are lots of things we

can’t do without heat,” he not-

ed. “When you see a meter on

the back of that building, they’ll

probably know we’re about six

weeks away [from opening].

Once the natural gas issues

are resolved, it could signal a

different type of hot summer in

Central City.

The issue of having an adult

nightclub, featuring scantily-

clad women serving libations

and high-priced steaks, has

been a sensitive one for over

a year in Central City. The

concept of a “strip club” has

faced criticism from local law

enforcement and other of-

ficials. This discussion led to

a $50,000 Sexually Oriented

Business study authorized by

the Gilpin Board of County

Commissioners last year. The

cabaret concept has also been

closely examined by many Cen-

tral City residents, who said it

will bring a “seedy reputation”

to their community.

Additionally, local officials

haven’t disclosed how they plan

to enforce Central City’s

and patrons from mak-

ing physical contact. It also pre-

vents customers from directly

handing tips to female enter-

tainers in the establishment.

RCI purchased several

billboards along Central City

Parkway over a year ago, an-

nouncing that Rick’s Cabaret

would open in 2024. However,

the opening did not happen.

This year, RCI updated the

billboards promoting Rick’s

Cabaret and Steakhouse at 130

Main St. without providing an

opening date.

Curious visitors have ap-

proached employees of busi-

nesses along Main Street in

recent months, inquiring about

the location of the cabaret and

asking questions such as, “At

what time does it open to-

day?” According to one casino

employee, who preferred to

remain anonymous, “We’ve

tried to explain that there isn’t

any cabaret there yet – so they

Langan previously said that

once the cabaret is ready, RCI

plans to open on weekend

evenings and could add days

over time.

Last summer, residents of

Central City and Gilpin County

complained about the presence

of a Sexually Oriented Busi-

ness in the heart of Central’s

business district, expressing

concerns that it could attract

crime, drugs, prostitution, and

other illegal activities. How-

ever, Langan has characterized

his five Denver area locations as

having few problems, including

the company’s Rick’s Cabaret

on Stout Street downtown.

Due to new regulations

approved by the Central City

Council last September, the

forthcoming Rick’s Cabaret

won’t feature traditional strip-

pers. While Langan originally

stated his desire to include

some form of nudity in the

building, it’s unlikely that

women will walk around topless

wearing bikini-type bottoms.

Due to Central’s regulations,

Langan stated he plans to have

female workers wear a style of

latex bodysuits that creates the

illusion they are topless. RCI

utilizes similar latex at one of

its clubs in San Antonio, where

local laws prohibit topless serv-

ers and dancers.

Last year, RCI fielded its first

team for the Lou Bunch bed

races. He hasn’t announced

whether Rick’s will have a team

in this year’s bed races.

Although historians say the

annual event pays a fun-intend-

ed tribute to the Wild West-

Gold Rush era of Central City’s

past, others contend it is a day

when the bygone era of brothels

and prostitutes is glamorized.

According to local history and

folklore, Louisa (Lou) Bunch

was born on Valentine’s Day

in 1857 and moved to Denver

in either 1877 or 1878. She

worked for Maddie Silks as a

prostitute until 1884, when she

became a madam. She used the

name “Lou Lou Davis” as her

professional name and married

a well-known gambler, George

Bunch, in 1879.

Later, she moved to Central

City, which was in the midst

of its gold-mining heyday, and

opened what history reported

to be a “very successful” brothel

on Pine Street. Madam Bunch’s

girls, despite their occupation,

cheered for the local baseball

team and even cared for those

afflicted with the Spanish Flu

around the time of World War

I.

Over half a century ago,

several Central City ladies es-

tablished the first Madam Lou

Bunch Day. It was meant to be

a fun, festive occasion honoring

the city’s Wild West era… rather

than prostitution.

Houston-based RCI pur-

chased the former Scarlett’s

Casino property from Central

City for $2.4 million in De-

cember 2022. It informed city

leaders of its intention to open

one of its Rick’s Cabaret opera-

tions in the building. RCI CEO

Eric Langan stated that he also

wished to obtain a state gaming

license, allowing the company

to establish its cabaret, high-

end steakhouse, and casino

inside.

During the past year, RCI

withdrew its request for a

gaming license at the recom-

mendation of investigators

from the Colorado Department

of Revenue, who review license

applications. As a result, Lan-

gan stated that he still wanted

to open an adult cabaret and

steakhouse in the building.

Langan, whose company is

the nation’s largest adult enter-

tainment business with more

than 60 locations, has contin-

ued to work toward opening

Gilpin County’s first cabaret.

After Central leaders denied

him a permit to open an SOB

last summer, Langan filed a

federal lawsuit against the city.

However, similar to the open-

ing of Rick’s Cabaret in Central

City, no date has been set for

the court proceedings.

DISCUSSIONDISCUSSION

Fee: $40/Res, $48/Non-Res

PETE GONES MEMORIAL PARK

MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY

**No practice Monday 5/26**

FOOTBALL JAMBOREE AT

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receive a practice shirt

GILPIN COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION

250 NORTON DR BLACK HAWK, 80422 | 303-582-1453

Continued from previous page

Special districts election

charged 15 years ago. Additional-

ly, the sanitation district sharply

raised its rates this year for

casinos, particularly those with

hotel rooms, swimming pools, or

spa facilities that generate higher

volumes of wastewater.

Changing state regulations

require BHCCSD board mem-

bers to study a renovation of its

20-year-old treatment plant and

to extend the discharge pipeline

from the facility several miles

south on Highway 119 to Clear

Creek, instead of continuing to

use a problematic pipe along

North Clear Creek.

According to previous esti-

mates, the treatment plant will

need approximately $1.75 million

in repairs, while the construction

of the new discharge pipeline

is expected to cost about $7.75

million. The BHCCSD has been

building its reserves to help

fund the work, although addi-

tional decisions will be necessary

before the projects can proceed,

possibly later this year.

Over 750 people have the

potential to cast votes in the

BHCCSD election, either via

absentee ballots or in person at

the sanitation district offices in

Black Hawk.

Work resuming on Floyd Hill; expect overnight closings

Patrick Henry Sweeney

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