Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2004 | 11:17 a.m.
Jaguars, the 25,000-square- foot topless club, could open as soon as this afternoon but almost certainly by the weekend, representatives of the new operators and Clark County officials said Tuesday.
The club was once owned by Michael Galardi, who has agreed to plead guilty in federal court in a cash-for-votes scandal affecting politicians in Las Vegas and San Diego. As a result of that association, Jaguars lost its liquor license last month.
Although the club could have continued operating as a juice bar, the new owner -- in this case, Michael Galardi's father Jack Galardi -- closed it rather than face the loss of thousands of dollars in revenue from drink sales.
The Clark County Commission on Tuesday approved a limited liquor license for Jaguars and its new operators, a pair of Las Vegas businessmen and former Metro Police officers, while county staff and police do a background check on the suitability of Jack Galardi and the two new operators.
Randy Miller and Richard Gonzales will pay $75,000 a month on a long-term lease to Jack Galardi, but otherwise will have little to do with the elder Galardi and nothing to do with the younger, attorney Paul Larsen said.
The goal of the two is to open the club on Procyon Street as soon as possible.
"We're scrambling to get inspections completed," Larsen said.
He said the club could open today, but several county inspections must be scheduled and completed before taking in customers for the once-popular topless club.
"We're very, very optimistic that we will be open by the weekend," he said.
Stacey Welling, a Clark County spokeswoman, said fire, building and health inspections must be completed, and then the county Business Licensing Department also must ensure that all the inspections have been satisfactorily completed.
Welling said the process could be completed quickly, within a couple of days at most.
"They're expecting it to go fairly fast," she said. "The building already has been inspected, so they're not anticipating any problems."
The same process will have to be completed for the Leopard Lounge, which Jack Galardi also purchased from his son. Under the terms of the limited liquor license also granted by the county commission Tuesday, Galardi has 60 days to open the club or the license will be revoked.
Unlike Jaguars, which essentially will open with minimal alterations from its previous ownership, the Leopard Lounge is receiving a full makeover.
Cheetahs, a topless club within Las Vegas city limits now owned solely by Jack Galardi, will not have to receive any inspections.
Unlike the two clubs in the county, Cheetahs never lost its liquor license and has remained open throughout six months of scandal.
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