The owner of the former Gold Club strip club property has put it up for sale for $2.5 million.
John S. Williamson, a Springfield-based commercial real estate agent hired by Chicopee Entertainment Co. to sell the property, said Thursday that adult entertainment is “not the direction we are going in,” The Republican reported.
The Gold Club had operated at the 645 Shawinigan Drive location until 2004 when it closed for good. The property includes a 19,428-square-foot structure built by Monsanto in 1963, situated on a 20-acre parcel.
A for sale sign was placed on the building Thursday as Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, Alderman Geroge R. Moreau and Police Chief John R. Ferraro. Jr. looked on.
Bissonnette, a longtime opponent of the strip club, said he welcomed the property owner’s efforts to sell the site.
Until recently, there was still a chance another strip club would operate on the property, but West Springfield businessman Richard Harty’s request for a liquor permit was denied by the city.
Opposition to strip clubs is not new in the city. Back in 1997, more than 7,000 residents signed petitions against the then proposed club. Despite efforts to block special permits for the club by local Aldermen in 1998, the club eventually opened in 2000 after its owners went to court.
