Washington- Trying to close a strip club for lap dances or unlicensed performers can take years. But a rickety pole and unstable ceiling support will get it shut down.

The City of Lakewood this month posted an “unsafe to enter” sign on Club Paradise, 3862 Steilacoom Blvd. S.W.

Though its name has changed from Night Moves to Lipstix to Stilettos, the roughly 80-year-old building has been an adult entertainment hot spot for more than three decades. It’s the place where porn star Mary Carey, who made a name for herself through a 2003 run for California governor, was arrested in April for allegedly touching herself during performances.

The strip club has been temporarily closed several times for adult cabaret violations, typically reopening under a new owner and name.

But city officials say this time, the party’s really over.

And that leaves Deja Vu, 8920 South Tacoma Way, as the city’s only operating strip club.

Club Paradise is considered a nonconforming business because it’s outside an adult entertainment zone the City Council adopted in 2003.

Strip clubs and adult bookstores that existed before the zone was approved were grandfathered in. But the city won’t allow adult entertainment on that site again since it’s technically illegal, said assistant city attorney Mike McKenzie.

“I don’t think we’re required to reissue permits so a building the owner made dangerous can reopen as a nonconforming use,” he said. “It’s something the courts would have to decide, if it ever comes up.”

Club owner Ray Henson and his attorney could not be reached for comment.

A former manager at the club, Pete Richmire, tipped the city off to the problems. He and other employees were disgruntled because they weren’t getting paid.

Richmire said he reported the code violations because he was worried the ceiling might cave in or dancers would get hurt on the stripping pole.

“The girls were climbing on it left and right,” said Richmire, who’s now a disc jockey at another strip club in Milwaukee. “It just wasn’t safe.”

He estimated it would cost $150,000 to fix the problems and doesn’t think anyone in the adult entertainment industry would want to take it on.

“Anyone who knows the history of Lakewood wouldn’t want to put money into it,” he said. “There are too many regulations in that city. It’s not worth it.”

This is the second Lakewood strip club to be shut down for building code violations. The city in March 2004 closed the New Players Club, 12822 Pacific Highway S.W., for mechanical, fire and electrical problems. It never reopened.

For years, police conducted sting operations on these two adult cabarets, and the result was always license revocations, court hearings and temporary shut-downs. The appeals process could take months or even years while the businesses kept operating.

It’s difficult to permanently close a club for sexually explicit acts or unlicensed strippers, because the businesses are protected by the First Amendment.

Dangerous buildings, however, have nothing to do with freedom of speech.

Lakewood has been at war with adult entertainment since it became a city almost 10 years ago. Many residents wanted cityhood so they could restrict and eventually get rid of these kinds of businesses, which police say breed crime and ruin neighborhoods.

“You would think that in an industry that’s scrutinized, that’s so heavily checked, owners would do everything by the book,” McKenzie said. “It’s silly.”

Club Paradise was closed Sept. 9 for building safety violations, including:

• Several overhead trusses had been removed to create a vaulted ceiling; city building inspectors were worried it could collapse.

• The work was done without proper permits.

• The stripping pole that dancers swing on was unsafe.

• A fire exit was boarded up.

• The sprinkler system piping was plastic, which would melt in a fire, and it didn’t have a water source.