Maabi Munoz
A coalition of neighbors and community groups known as Living Cully recently purchased the building that once housed the Sugar Shack strip club as part of an effort to revitalize Portland's diverse Cully neighborhood. The plan to buy the notoriously seedy establishment kicked off last fall with a crowdfunding campaign. Loans and grants also helped Living Cully acquire the prominently located building that was home to a strip club and other adult businesses, long seen as a neighborhood eyesore.
Tony DeFalco is the Living Cully coordinator for Verde. He says, "We're going to be very flexible and very practical about the kinds of uses that can serve both the needs of the neighborhood now and also be financially prudent for our organizations." He listed off some possible uses for the space, including a youth recreation center, a maker space, a business incubator, and a commercial kitchen for people in the neighborhood who have home-based food businesses.