At one time, Bloordale was a hot spot for cheap drugs, street prostitution and arrests. Vestiges remain, but major changes have been underway for years on the stretch of Bloor St. W. between Dufferin St. and Lansdowne Ave.

The old Dale’s, a diner of ill repute, is now a trendy brunch spot. There’s no Starbucks yet, but among the psychic dens, cash-for-gold joints, laundromats and the token Coffee Time, you’ll find a gourmet sandwich counter, hip bars and a bakery that ominously proclaimed “the vegans are coming!” in its window before opening.

Property values have gone up 35 per cent, according to realtor Tasi Farquhar, with one detached house fetching $1,070,000 recently. Where it used to be littered with needles, a playground was installed at the Susan Tibaldi Parkette to accommodate families.

The old butts up against the new in Bloordale. And the long-standing House of Lancaster strip club is right in the middle.

Owner Spiro Koumoudouros has been a member of the BIA for 27 years and at the helm for as long as anyone can remember. He takes credit for cleaning up Bloordale and making it more inviting for newcomers. But now some say it’s time for him to go. Koumoudouros says without him, the BIA would collapse.

“(Spiro) was one of the only people who would chair the BIA so we have to give him kudos for that. But it doesn’t mean he has to continue,” said Liza Lukashevsky, who formally joined the BIA this year but has owned the Nuthouse health food store since 2010.

“This seems like a natural time for change to happen to reflect what’s happening already organically in the neighbourhood,” she said.

From her front window, Lukashevsky gazes directly at the club’s steel doors. She joined the BIA reluctantly and has suggested low participation by others is due to its association with the House of Lancaster.

A group of residents formed the Community Improvement Association (CIA) to support new business and want some say in how the BIA is run. They hope when board elections roll around in November, Koumoudouros will be voted out. No one has ever run against him.

“If anybody want to run against me, they can run and if they can win, they win. Doesn’t bother me,” Koumoudouros said.

“You know something, it’s not an easy job, let me tell you. If you don’t have the passion and the vision you’re never going to succeed.”

CIA members believe too much energy is spent on the annual Big On Bloor Festival and not enough on concrete improvements like graffiti removal, bike racks, more trees, cigarette-butt receptacles, filling the dozen or so remaining empty storefronts and dealing with the former TTC yard on Lansdowne.

Koumoudouros’ proposal that the Toronto District School Board land for sale at the corner of Bloor and Dufferin Sts. should become a shopping mecca, grand hotel, condos, nursing home, church and replica of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was also not well received.

There’s a changing vision among new retailers, said Shelley Town, who runs a paper store that used to be a sketchy used-computer dealership with bars on the window. “It’s old school versus new school.”

The group isn’t “launching a junta,” said CIA founding member Thomas Balatka. “It would be nice to have a change of guard, it would be nice to have new blood to represent the businesses in our neighbourhood.”

The House of Lancaster has been in operation since 1981.

“Featuring some of Toronto’s most beautiful all-nude dancers, we remain as one of the most respected gentleman’s clubs in Canada,” the club’s website boasts along with menu items such as the “Gang Bang Platter.”

Around 11 p.m. one Saturday, there were no all-nude dancers. On stage, young women with varying levels of acrobatic skill kept their bottoms but danced topless to outdated pop tunes. There is a $3 cover and no windows on the building. One dancer had a “Daddy’s Girl” tattoo, but it’s not a family place.

The Koumoudouros name is well-known in certain circles. The late Terry Koumoudouros won a Supreme Court battle against Toronto’s no-nudity bylaws in 1986.

And Spiro Koumoudouros, Terry’s younger brother, has been a vocal advocate of Bloordale, working with city hall to fix the roads, plant trees and fight the visible criminal influence. “I declared a war on the drugs!” he told the Star.

The number of crimes reported in 14 Division dropped 30 per cent from 2004 to 2012. (The area is now part of 11 Division.) “We turned this neighbourhood 180 degrees,” Koumoudouros said.

“If I’m doing a great job, what’s the matter (with) the House of Lancaster? I’m in a legitimate business. I have a licence, I pay taxes, I don’t do nothing illegal. I don’t see anything wrong.”

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As irksome as the House of Lancaster might be, Koumoudouros is a family man. He’s married with three daughters in their 20s, all highly educated and ambitious, and was for years was known for handing out 3,000 turkeys to the area’s poor residents at Christmas from a truck parked in front of the strip club.

In 2011, about 150 people attended a poetry breakfast there to raise money for the Savards Women’s Shelter. He’s spent thousands of dollars and at least 25 hours per week on the BIA, he says. All roles on the board are voluntary.

Some believe the House of Lancaster’s street prominence could slow the pace of gentrification and keep the neighbourhood at its current “sweet spot” halfway between gritty and polished — and affordable.

“Some people like having him there because it means Starbucks isn’t coming. I’ve had many people tell me that,” Lukashevsky said, adding she doesn’t want to commit to running for the BIA executive but if someone else comes forward, “I will take them by the hand to the meeting.”