A lawsuit has been filed against a $3m strip club that opened across the back fence from a convent.
The Get It/Club Allure strip club opened last September adjacent to the Missionary Sisters of St Charles Borromeo in Cook County, Illinois.
The convent hosts three chapels, a home for retired sisters, and a house for young women considering becoming nuns.
The Thomas More Society, which filed the lawsuit, says the strip joint contravenes Illinois state regulations mandating a 1,000 foot buffer zone between adult entertainment venues and places of worship or schools.
The complaint filed with the Cook County Circuit Court states that the strip club is in "close and illicit proximity" to the convent and neighbouring Melrose Park residential area.
In addition to disruptive noisy music and flashing neon lights, the lawsuit complains of public violence, drunkenness, and litter in the vicinity of the club, including empty alcohol bottles, cigarette butts, used syringes, and used condoms.
The Thomas More Society is asking the court to declare the strip club a nuisance and take action to uphold the legal rights of the nuns and local residents.
"The Sisters have every right to pray and work peacefully without disruption from a strip club in their backyard," said Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel of the Thomas More Society.
"Nor should children have to walk past the strip club's litter of empty beer and whiskey bottles and used condoms. We are fighting for the rights of the Sisters, neighbouring families, and people of Melrose Park.
"The Illinois state zoning law provides for their protection, and they deserve to have the law enforced."
