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From apartment building to hotel to strip club, the Clermont Lounge has delighted many, and horrified some, since the seven-story building’s erection in 1924.
In 1964, the infamous strip club took residence in the basement of the building, opening as the “Jungle Club,” and holds the ignoble title of the city’s longest continually operating strip club.
The Ponce de Leon icon is no stranger to dark days as health inspectors forced the hotel to close in 2009, with repairs estimated to be $10-30 million. Fortunately, a substantial rehabilitation of the building and conversion into a boutique hotel is currently underway.
– Mark C. McDonald, Georgia Trust