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A strip club icon comes to it's end.

shadowcat

Atlanta suburb

Wild Goose to shut down on Christmas Eve

The Wild Goose strip club will close on Dec. 24th and the property developed into a 264-unit condo/retail complex. (Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer)
Priscilla, a dancer at the Wild Goose nightclub in Del Aire, credits the topless bar with giving her a stable job and other benefits.

She has worked at the club for the past six years.

"I love the attention," said Priscilla, who only gave her stage name. "I've lost so much weight because of my dancing. It keeps me in great shape."

However, that job will soon come to an end.

Priscilla and the other performers at the Wild Goose will give their last lap dances at the club on Christmas Eve, when the 45-year-old business will close for good.

The club, a nearby motel and nine homes will be replaced by 264 condos, to be developed by the Wild Goose's owner.

County supervisors on Nov. 8

Priscilla dances at the Wild Goose on Aviation Blvd. near LAX. The strip club is slated to close on Dec. 24 to make way for a 264-unit condo/retail complex. (Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer)approved the project, which also includes 112 apartment units and some commercial space at an MTA Green Line site just north of the club.
Larry Kroeze, whose family has owned the Wild Goose since his father, Ralph, opened it in 1966, will develop the project on a total of six acres. He owns three of those acres, which contains the club, motel and homes to be replaced.

Kroeze said he has no timetable for the project, although the condos will be built before the apartments.

"We're working on getting financing right now," Kroeze said.

He decided to close the Wild Goose, at 11604 Aviation Blvd., about four years ago, after an MTA official called him to propose the residential project. The idea fits well with
public efforts to situate homes near public transportation hubs to reduce traffic.
The supervisors approved the project after Kroeze agreed to reduce the total housing units from 390 to 376.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents the unincorporated area of Del Aire, introduced the motion to approve the project. His fellow supervisors supported it unanimously.

"It will be the first transit-oriented development within the unincorporated Second District. So he sees benefits for the surrounding community and workforce as well as to the entire transit system," said Karly Katona, Ridley-Thomas's deputy.

At a recent early afternoon at the Wild Goose, more than two dozen men lounged at the bar and tables in a large, dimly lit room.

A raised stage with two stripper poles graced one side near balloon arrangements of a Santa Claus and Christmas tree.

Women in bikini-style lingerie and pumps moved from man to man, chatting them up. Some women gave lap dances in an open area to one side.

Herman, a silver-haired regular at the Wild Goose since 1969, said he will miss the club and its welcoming atmosphere.

"It will be the end of an era," said Herman, a man in his 60s who declined to give his full name. "Of all the clubs I go to, this is my favorite. This place is where you can relax and enjoy yourself."

George Carpenter has served as the Wild Goose's general manager for 23 years. During that time, he has seen the business suffer from economic strains, the aerospace industry downsizing and increasing competition.

"We used to get a really good lunch crowd from the aerospace people," Carpenter said. "When I first came into the industry, there were only 100 clubs across California. Now there are more than 300 clubs in California."

Montana, a slender 25-year-old dancer, said she will pursue a business degree after the Wild Goose closes.

Montana, who only gave her stage name, has worked there for about 2 1/2 years, and says it lacks the "creepy" feel of other clubs, especially those that are totally nude.

Nearly all the money dancers make comes from the intimate lap dances, which cost $20 each. That is why it's so important for them to "break the ice" with clients by talking with them.

"It's both physically challenging and emotionally challenging and it can be exhausting," Montana said.

For Priscilla, a 43-year-old Torrance resident, she will give up dancing after Christmas Eve. That will allow her to focus on her side business, in which she makes dresses at home that she sells at her women's wear store at the Rodium swap meet in Torrance.

Wearing a dark aqua blue dress with feathers, the curvy performer said the Wild Goose is the best topless bar she has been in.

"This is a more burlesque-type show," she said. "Everybody dresses up and they have a good time."

At 43, the mother of two adult sons may seem an unlikely candidate for such work. But Priscilla said she isn't too old for topless dancing, with other performers older than her.

As for her sons, ages 20 and 23, she kept her stripping job a secret from them before finally breaking the news only last year. Until that disclosure, they thought she was out selling clothes.

"I wanted to make sure they were old enough to understand," she explained. "And they accepted it. They were surprised at first."

Kroeze, the Wild Goose owner, plans a farewell party for customers tonight, with complimentary food and happy hour from around 7 p.m. until closing at 2 a.m.

Kroeze said he feels sentimental about the longtime family business.

"You feel a loss," he said. "There's a lot of customers that you become acquainted with and with their children and their children's children."