You've heard of the love boat. Now meet the lust boat.
Raider's Reef, a strip club at 6475 E. Golf Links Road, is shaped like a 19th-century clipper. The whitewashed structure, covering a rebar frame, has several masts that jut up above it and a pointy bow with a bare-breasted, winged mermaid out in front.
Before setting sail into the naughty waters of exotic dancing, the building was an ordinary bar. Or at least as ordinary as a bar shaped like a boat could be.
Jerry Ross, who created the Famous Sam's chain, teamed with brother-in-law Max Yampolsky to build the facility, dubbed Pirate's Den nightclub, in 1972. In its heyday, the club hosted performances from Chubby Checker to Fabian and the Platters.
Ross and Yampolsky sold the building to the group that repurposed the building into Raider's Reef in April 1999.
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In a 1999 interview with the Star, Ross said he chose the boat shape because it would stand out to landlubbers.
The boat-building is definitely a head-turner, parked inconspicuously next to a Circle K.
It has a front door that is apparently no longer necessary, with a seemingly permanent sign that it's locked, instructing patrons to try the rear entrance, which is where the building's parking lot is located. The design seems to be a way to avoid having its clientele be seen by passers-by.
The building is made out of a rebar skeleton with a concrete slurry called gunite.
We couldn't track down Ross, and the Raider's Reef ownership declined to comment for this story. Any mysteries aboard the bad-girl barge will remain a mystery to all except for paying customers.
Now on sale
"Tucson Oddities, Too" is now available.
The sequel to "Tucson Oddities Vol. 1" features another 50 hometown oddities suggested by Star readers. Price: $14.99 plus tax.
A limited number of Volume 1 and 2 are available in a box set for $29, plus tax.
The books can be purchased at the Star, 4850 S. Park Ave., or online at azstarnet.com/store (shipping and handling charges will be applied.)
Questions can be referred to oddity@azstarnet.com or 573-4232.
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
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