Circus-inspired entertainment breaking ground in Lee County with new Vixens Cabaret

Reporter: Haley Zarcone
Published: Updated:

The Vixens Cabaret has seen many moves since owner John Gallagher took over the nightclub.

After taking ownership of the club in 2022, Hurricane Ian flooded their original club along McGregor Boulevard.

“There was 12 feet of water here,” said Gallagher. “It wiped out the building completely. The city and the county red-tagged the building, and so it had to be demolished completely, and so from that point on, we made a decision to come back to the beach hard, and we believe in Fort Myers Beach.”

After Ian, they brought the club down to the beach. Reaching the island’s need for entertainment by hitting the sand.

“There were a lot of workers down here that needed some entertainment,” said Gallagher. “There were a lot of people trying to rebuild their own condos and other things down here.”

Vixens has started construction after their ground breaking in February off of McGregor Boulevard. The older version of the club was on the same property, now they are expanding their club after buying the entire corner lot.

After a year and a half of permitting and preparing, they put shovel to sand in February, taking inspiration from other properties across the state. They’re bringing a South Beach feel to Fort Myers.

Gallagher describes it as being “different than what people expect.” Calling it “more of a circus” there will be aerialists, DJs and bottle service.

Their rendering displayed in front of their construction site is a bit of an optical illusion for some: what looks like could be two stories, a one-story building with 24-foot tall ceilings.

“That gives plenty of room for the light shows and aerialists and DJs,” said Gallagher, “and things like that, so there’ll be plenty of room to move around, but it is only one story.”

This new entertainment spot is hoping to bring 80 – 90 jobs to the area. The construction is set to take about 10 months.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.