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Lap dances in the teachers’ lounge? Stripper poles in the cafeteria? What kind of school is this?
Well, it used to be the old Pioneer school, located about 60 miles south of Champaign, Illinois. For fifty years, it was the home of 4-H meetings and classrooms. In 2002, the Neoga school district sold the abandoned elementary school for $36,800 and six months ago, it was converted into a strip joint (above), according to a story in the Chicago Tribune.
The owners of the club have kept the school theme, according to reporter Steve Schmadeke: “The walls are hung with multiplication tables, chalkboard, a history of U.S. presidents and a poster titled ‘Class Rules’ that reads ‘Keep hands off dancers.’”
The club, called The School House, doesn’t serve alcohol. It is the only strip club in Cumberland County — or anywhere within an hour’s drive. And the owner says it is a needed source of jobs. “This building was falling apart — we totally renovated it,” said Bob Kearney, who has a one-year lease on the former school. “Nobody cared about this building until we moved in. You show me another business in Cumberland County that has created 30 jobs for people.”
The Neoga strip club has had repercussions. During basketball season, students at an opposing school waved dollar bills at the Neoga cheerleaders in an apparent reference to The School House.