House of Books/House of Movies, an LGBT-friendly 24-hour adult book and video store, opened at 16500 Brookpark Road around 1980. House of Books/House of Movies featured adult video viewing booths that were noted by the Damron’s Guide as being a popular cruising destination throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The House of Books and other nearby adult businesses that proliferated on Brookpark road – which straddled the boundary between Cleveland and Brook Park – had long been deemed a nuisance by officials in both cities. Like other adult book and video stores of its time, House of Books was subject to numerous anti-obscenity raids (many of which led to the arrests of both employees and patrons) by the Cleveland Police Department’s Vice Squads throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1997, when Cleveland ceded a “two-mile long strip of land to Brook Park as part of its plan to expand Cleveland Hopkins International Airport,” the the House of Books came under the target of Brook Park city officials who intended to “clean up” and eradicate the notorious “adult business strip” from the Brookpark Road area. During an undercover investigation into allegations of public sex at the House of Books/House of Movies between March 1998-March 1999, Brook Park police arrested over “38 men involved in sexual activity [with other men] on the property” and declared the business to be a public nuisance. The city eventually entered into an agreement with the stores’ owners to purchase and close the businesses in March 1999. Brook Park officials took over the former House of Books in January 2000, and the building was ultimately demolished in April 2000.
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- “3 More Adult Stores Raided In City.” Plain Dealer. August 6, 1987.
- “4 Charged After Raids On Adult Bookstores.” Plain Dealer. August 5, 1987.
- Becker, Bob. “Adult Store Beating City Hall.” Plain Dealer. September 11, 1988.
- Gabe, Catherine. “Brook Park Weary of Seedy Scenes.” Plain Dealer. January 19, 1986.
- Horton, John. “New Deal Calls For Strip Club To Close.” Plain Dealer. January 16, 2000.
- Koontz, Rena A. “A New Path for Brookpark Road – New Businesses Replace Strip Joints.” Plain Dealer. October 1, 2002.
- Koontz, Rena A. “Brook Park Tries To Buy Out Adult Businesses.” Plain Dealer. December 1, 1999.
- Listed in Action Magazine Resource Directory.
- Listed in Metra Magazine Resource Directory.
- Perry, Richard M. “Demolition Begins At Adult Businesses – Brookpark Road Getting A New Look.” Plain Dealer. April 27, 2000.
- Sartin, V. David. “Business Agrees To Close – Adult Theater Deal With Brook Park Allows Bookstore At Site To Stay Open.” Plain Dealer. March 19, 1999.
- Sartin, V. David. “Officials Seek Closing of Two Adult Businesses.” Plain Dealer. March 11, 1999.
- Saul, Stephanie. “8 Firms Fines In Probe of Smut Empire.” Plain Dealer. February 11, 1982.