KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Knoxville strip club and sports bar has been ordered to shut down in a permanent injunction filed by Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen.
The agreed order of permanent injunction filed on Sept. 16 states that The Ball Gentleman’s Club and Jolly’s Sports Bar on Alcoa Highway has been deemed a public nuisance. The injunction both closes the businesses permanently, but also bars John R. Nichols from operating a business at the property.
The business was temporarily closed in June by a judge’s order which called it a ‘haven for criminal activity.’
“The Ball is a menace to the community particularly due to the violence that is occurring both inside and outside of the business, and we will use every resource and law available to combat violence in our community.” said DA Allen in the previous announcement of The Ball’s temporary closure because it was a public nuisance.
Part of the injunction stipulates that Nichols has agreed to surrender any beer permit issued by the City of Knoxville Beer Board within 5 days and he will not seek a new beer permit for any business operated at the location. Nichols is also said to have agreed, in the document, “not to own, operate, or have a silent interest in a sexually-oriented business at this location.”
For any business to be opened at the location in the future, the property owners listed on the injunction must allow the Knoxville Police Department or the Knox County DA’s office to run criminal background checks on potential tenants before a lease agreement is signed according to the injunction. Any tenant businesses must close by 3 a.m. allow law enforcement to inspect the property to ensure compliance with the court order, among other regulations.
Nichols declined to provide a comment to WATE.
