For years, Mr. Lester was also a headline-generating juggernaut for the local paper. He was the man who defied Bible Belt convention and survived a career in the cross hairs of evangelical Christians, prudish city officials, and even — in that odd way that the long putt of history sometimes breaks — an assistant United States attorney general named Robert S. Mueller III.

These days, according to his critics, Mr. Lester is also standing in the way of progress. His detractors contend that his two strip clubs along Broad Street, the Discotheque Lounge and Vegas Showgirls, are the last seedy obstacles hindering a downtown revitalization that might finally help Augusta shed its reputation as a sort of unglamorous urban crust around the sparkling green geode that is the Augusta National.

“We don’t want to continue to be the butt of jokes,” said Matt Aitken, a former member of the city-county commission and a real estate agent who has a number of properties listed near Mr. Lester’s clubs. “We want to be on the cutting edge of economic prosperity, and to be cool.”

A former mill town of 200,000 people about a two-hour drive east of Atlanta, Augusta has waited a long time for its makeover. Its urban core suffered more than most, not only from suburbanization, but fire, floods and a bitter 1970 race riot. For decades, the downtown was defined by empty storefronts, pawn shops, and places like the Discotheque, the more famous of Mr. Lester’s clubs.

But now, finally, there is energy. There is a fledgling tech sector, helped along by the planned move of the United States Army’s Cyber Command headquarters from Virginia to nearby Fort Gordon. There is a handsome new $40 million convention center and a lovingly restored 1940 theater. There are pedestrians. There is a restaurant on Broad Street that serves quail bisque and pork belly rillette.