A former Long Island strip club will be converted into a park welcome center as part of a seven-figure revitalization project.
The building that once held the Oasis Gentlemen’s Club in Smithtown will soon be greeting visitors to the adjacent Paul T. Given Park after the town was awarded a $1.5 million grant for the project, reports say.
The money will revitalize the park, which was acquired by the town in 2022 from the county but has since fallen into disrepair, according to Newsday.
The old strip-club building — located off Route 25 across from the town’s iconic Bull Statue — was purchased by the town after decades of trying to remove it, as many town officials viewed it as a local embarrassment, according to Newsday.
Oasis’ former owner, Thomas Murray, defended the building’s existence as a “safe rite of passage for many,” employing local people, paying taxes and never causing police trouble.
But now it’s finally going to some use that town offiicials say they can be proud of – with renovations already under way on the old building.
Other upgrades for the park — which is poised alongside the Nissequogue River that flows into Long Island’s wetlands – include removal of invasive plants, improvements to paths and the installation of an overlook deck.
“It’s going to be a great way to protect the headwaters of the Nissequogue,” said Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim.
