Is Club Crucial being targeted to make way for Bankhead gentrification?

The club affiliated with T.I. may be facing unfair targeting by the City of Atlanta



It ain’t everyday that music blogs rise to the level of civic journalism.

But CL contributor and music blogger Maurice Garland raises some provocative questions in his investigation into the city of Atlanta’s crackdown on Club Crucial, the Bankhead nightclub affiliated with rapper T.I.

Namely: Is the club’s liquor license up for revocation in order to kill the business and make way for incoming gentrification? By comparing Club Crucial’s incidents of crime — which the city is citing in its case against Crucial —Â to more upscale clubs Luckie Lounge and Opera, Garland discovers that Club Crucial isn’t nearly as rife with crime.

So why is Club Crucial — located on Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy. (formerly Bankhead Hwy.) — being targeted?

After years of carrying a bad reputation, some may wonder why the city has set its sights on Bankhead? Bankhead Highway is the only strip of highway that connects the more affluent Cobb County directly to Downtown Atlanta. Thus, Bankhead has become an important strip in Atlanta’s growth plans.

Establishments like Crucial are viewed as a threat to those plans.

Read the rest of the report at mauricegarland.com.