Tent pitched as a temporary home for Fort Myers Beach strip club

A tent pitched on Fort Myers Beach has many people asking what is underneath. The tent is going to be an adult entertainment nightclub.

It has been set up where Fantasy’s at the Beach stood before Ian destroyed the building. People are just finding out about what’s set to open in the tent on Friday and telling us how they feel.

“A strip club in a tent… That’s not something I’ve ever heard of,” said Demetrius Brown.

People said they’ve been wondering what this tent would be used for.

“It’s going to be great to have it back, man,” said Armando Benitez.

“Everybody needs a job, whatever your job may be. But it is a shocker that they’re doing it out of a tent,” said Jim Hail.

The group that purchased the business did so just two months before Hurricane Ian.

“Just two months later, we had 10 feet of water wipe away the building,” said John Gallagher, president of Vixens Fort Myers Beach LLC.

Effective immediately, the business is now called Vixens Fort Myers Beach. WWINK News spoke with the president of the company on the phone.

“We would like to put up a temporary tented thing, so we could have a nice little place for them to stop and maybe get a smile they haven’t had for the last five months,” said Gallagher.

Gallagher says this is all about providing a sense of relief for people devastated by the storm, and he says the idea for the tent just fell into the owner’s lap.

“Our clubs are known as, Vixens, the sexy circus. And so, the owners, who are very much in favor of this circus kind of thing, said, ‘let’s put up a tent. Let’s have a circus’. And, you know, ‘let’s do what we do best,'” Gallagher said.

Inside this tent, a stage is set. Some people said it’s an excellent way to help take peoples’ minds off the devastation; others are still in shock.

“It has been hard… Hard… Working every day since [Hurricane Ian],” Benitez said.

“Yeah, I work this construction site, so I’ve seen a lot of people, you know, go through it. And it’s sad,” said Brown.

“I’m just kind of shocked that [Lee County] are letting them do it. Like I said, hurricane season is coming,” Hail said.

This adult entertainment nightclub is set to open on Friday. The tent passed its fire inspection on Thursday. However, this will be temporary. A brand new building is already being planned to replace this tent, which could happen before this year’s end.