The owner of a Connecticut adult entertainment club has agreed to replace a risqué billboard that sits along an interstate highway after several people complained.
The billboard for the Electric Blue Cafe in Tolland that features two scantily clad dancers went up along Interstate 84 a couple of weeks ago.
Tolland Town Manager Steven Werbner says several residents and commuters complained.
The owner of a Connecticut adult entertainment club has agreed to replace a risqué billboard that sits along an interstate highway after several people complained
Werbner says he’s aware of the club’s First Amendment rights and knew he probably could not force the club to take down the billboard.
So he wrote to the owner Ken Denning and ‘asked his consideration in revising the content of the sign,’ which he agreed to do, Tolland Patch reported.
Denning says he has a good relationship with the town and doesn’t want anything to interfere with that. He said it will take about a month to replace the billboard.
Werbner said he also wrote to the state Department of Transportation, ‘Expressing our concern with the sign content and asked if they could reconsider the permit for this sign.’
Despite agreeing to take the sign down, Electric Blue Public Relations Director Katrina Kulakova (pictured here) was unapologetic about the billboard
Despite agreeing to take the sign down, Electric Blue Public Relations Director Katrina Kulakova was unapologetic about the billboard.
She said the sign is ‘nothing more than the girls in their bathing suits. I’m sorry I don’t see any nudity in there. Okay, yeah maybe a little bit risqué, but still, it’s our business right? We know the laws, what we can put up and what we cannot.’
Resident Ursula Meyer said with a playful smile ‘I know a lot of guys that would have trouble staying on the road.’
Resident Ursula Meyer said with a playful smile ‘I know a lot of guys that would have trouble staying on the road’
She added ‘It’s just a little too much in your face, I think I remember the old sign was like silhouettes, which can maybe be tasteful.’
However Kulakova did not agree, she said ‘Honey, some men get distracted by anything okay. We did not have one accident because of our billboard.’
Werbner posted the following message to the town website: ‘For those residents following the Electric Blue sign controversy please be aware that the owner of the facility has agreed to remove the current sign,’ NBC reported.
‘It may take approximately a month for him to design a replacement and have it installed. Knowing that the owner is aware of the sensitivity surrounding the current sign we are hopeful that any replacement will be visually more acceptable,’ he concluded.
The owner of the club said he has a good relationship with the town and doesn’t want anything to interfere with that. He said it will take about a month to replace the billboard