The assault doesn't involve a gun or a knife. It's rock 'n' roll that sneaks into his house at night when Norman Clark is tucked in bed. The music rattles his windows and thumps his ears again and again and again. "Some nights it's not so loud, some nights it's loud," he said.

Clark stood on the porch of his well-manicured house in June, lamenting the day that Dreamworld Music Complex opened a half-mile away at 3102 E. Division St. in Arlington. The noise is invasive, he said. A plane flew overhead. "Like this crap here," he said, sticking his thumb skyward.

Oh.

And those trains that come by his house, with their pesky whistles; he's complained about those as well. "Oh, man, they send the trains through here," he said.

It's not just the noise that irks Clark about Dreamworld. The club is presented as something of a Christian venue, although many patrons are teenagers with dyed hair and pierced and tattooed bodies. The club doesn't sell alcohol, but sometimes beer bottles are left in the parking lot after shows. The building is a converted warehouse painted blood red. "If you look at it, it looks like a dungeon over there," he said.

Clark, 66, and his neighbor began calling 911. Clark complained to city officials. Police cracked down. Clark was Arlington's human resources director for 24 years before retiring in 1998, but that extensive tenure doesn't earn favors at City Hall, he insisted. "Those police officers are handling it in a professional way," he said.

Dreamworld customers feel differently. They said Clark once drove into the parking lot claiming to have city connections and threatening to shut down the club. Clark monitors the club and drives by during shows but denied talking to anyone. "It's just a bunch of kids," he said.   NEXT »

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