SPRINGFIELD, Oregon — from www.register-guard.com – The building at 3988 Main St. has been a Montessori school and a day care center in the past. But after it sat vacant for more than five years, a decidedly more grown-up purpose is being pursued by its new tenants.

A Springfield resident has filed plans with the city to turn the two-story structure into Club Namaste, a members-only adult alternative lifestyles club. That is to say, it would become a place where consenting adults would have sex.

Mostly open to couples and single women, with single men facing a steep premium to join, Club Namaste would offer theme rooms such as “The Doctor’s Office” and the “Jungle Room,” along with other amenities that facilitate swinging, club owner Bart Golden said.

Several rooms would have beds, and members, all aged 21 and over, would be allowed to do whatever they please, as long as it’s consensual, according to the club’s Web site, theswingofthings.net.

The club, which is not yet open, would join other sexually oriented businesses along Springfield’s Main Street, namely four strip clubs and an adult store.

A half-dozen such clubs appear to exist in the state — including one in Albany, one in Salem, and several in Portland.

Lane County is ready to claim a piece of the action, Golden said, although he admits that it could be difficult for him to meet Springfield requirements that the property first may need to be extensively upgraded.

“There’s people that come from Ashland to Portland every weekend, so we’ve gotten a lot of response from people like that,” he said, noting that he’s mostly communicated with potential clients online.

Membership prices listed online for Club Namaste — in Sanskrit, “namaste” translates as “the divine in me salutes the divine in you” — range from $25 annually for single women, $100 a year for couples and $450 for single men. All of those interested would have to fill out an application and undergo an interview, according to the Web site.

Golden said he has no plans to sell alcohol in the club. Members would be able to visit places such as the “Group Lounge,” described in information Golden provided to the city as an “assembly room where consensual interactions of a romantic or sexual nature may occur,” with two king size beds and a “bench for sitting.”

However, Golden, his landlord, and city officials all said that there are some significant roadblocks before Club Namaste’s doors can swing open.

The building is owned by a Creswell area couple, Darrold and Lesley Stutz.

To open as a club, the 40-plus-year-old building must be brought up to minimum development standards, and the city must review elements such as off-street parking, vehicle access and landscaping, said Jim Donovan, Springfield urban planning supervisor.

The city’s minimum development standards code aims mainly to ensure that a property can safely and efficiently handle the business located there. If those standards are met, however, and the property passes city inspections, the club could open, because the property is zoned commercial, and such clubs are legal in that zone, Donovan said.

“I have no comment or opinion on the nature of their club,” he said. “It’s a fraternal organization like any other.”

Golden and Darrold Stutz argued that the cost of bringing the building up to Springfield’s standards is excessive.

Golden, 38, a former contractor, said he already has sunk at least $26,000 into renovating the property in preparation for opening the club. Last month, he took out a building permit from the city for $40,000 worth of work in the 3,700-square-foot structure.

Stutz should be responsible for making any exterior site changes the city might require on the property, he said.

“We presumed at the time we started to remodel this place that it was ready to use, and then it turned out it wasn’t,” he said, adding that he is considering suing Stutz over the matter. “It’s not looking too good.”

Stutz — who bought the building in 1992 for $155,000, according to Lane County property records — said the city’s exorbitant fees and over-the-top code requirements are the problem.

“Mr. Golden went down to get a permit to move in and then they hit him with all these fees, and now he’s mad at me,” Stutz said. “The city of Springfield has gone way overboard with their rules and regulations.”

The fees the city is requiring include a $1,500 change of occupancy fee and a $250 plan review permit, Stutz said.

Neither Golden nor Stutz has submitted a minimum development standards application, so it’s unclear what, if any, work would be needed to comply with that code.

Stutz said Golden has not signed a lease and is behind on the rent at 3988 Main St. He declined to say how much Golden owes him.

He said he has no qualms with the intended purpose for his property.

“If it’s a legal operation, then I have no problem,” he said. “I don’t have any right to tell anyone else what they can or can’t do with their body or their beliefs.”

Golden said Club Namaste is his first attempt at opening his own business, and that he’s “definitely learning as I go.”

He said he will be working this week to figure out how he can open his club. “Maybe things will work out,” he said.