PORTLAND, Oregon – A group of parents are pooling their money to try to purchase… a strip club?
They told KOIN they have been waiting for the opportunity for years.
Several strip clubs have long operated out of the “Town Center Plaza” in northeast Portland’s Cully neighborhood.
Residents said they have been waiting for the building to be put up for sale. 
Families found out the building that housed the former “Sugar Shack” is on the market and have been trying to buy it ever since.
Maabi Munoz heads a local non-profit organization and teamed up with three others to put in an offer on the complex.
The seller accepted the group’s offer and now they have 90 days to line up the nearly $3 million for the purchase.
Supporters have already invested $55,000 of their own money and are turning to the crowd funding site “Indie Go Go” to raise more.
Why do the parents want to buy the building?
Munoz said, “When we get the Sugar Shack and we build something, I know it will be something to benefit the children and families in this neighborhood.”
Other residents agree the building is an eyesore.
“In the summer especially when the kids are out playing in the front and they’re seeing the comings and goings and they’re seeing what’s going on, a strip club, and it’s not good for them to see that,” resident Lupe said.
The group has raised about $4,500 so far and are working to get more in an effort to keep another strip club from moving in.
Besides redeveloping the old Sugar Shack building, community members also recently turned a closed landfill into a brand new park, all in the name of making Cully a destination neighborhood.
Source: CNN and Jennifer Hoff for KOIN
