The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures. Downtown sex club Oasis Aqualounge is a thriving destination for people of all ages β and, as partner Judy Kaye says, a 'unique' destination 'focused on women's sexuality'. In her private life, Kaye and her husband, Richard, were frequent visitors to sex clubs both at home and abroad.
Like many would-be entrepreneurs, Kaye spent ages daydreaming about what her ideal club would look like, incorporating elements she liked from various places she and Richard visited during their travels. The two wanted to refute the public conception of sex clubs as "dark, dingy and seedy," as Kaye puts it, imagining a place that was clean, bright and inviting, a place where people could feel safe and welcome to explore.
The potential business partners had been talking for about two years when, in , a former bathhouse known as Club Toronto on Mutual Street became available for sale. It's a storied venue: In , during the Toronto bathhouse raids, it was one of four gay bathhouses stormed by police, the site of mass arrests. In , it was the location of the Pussy Palace raids, when a group of women were targeted and harassed by male police officers.
Kaye and her husband joined with Rodriguez and a fourth partner who is no longer involved to pool their personal finances. They avoided trying for a bank loan because they knew their business venture was an unusual one. Instead, they sought funding from family and friends: In April of , the group took over the space and named it Oasis Aqualounge. All four held on to their day jobs while spending their free time revitalizing the space, hiring interior designer Robin DeGroot to give the old club a facelift while preserving its history.
At one point, DeGroot ordered the painters scraping an old bathroom to stop what they were doing. He said, 'Leave it. We're working with this,'" Kaye says. Judy Kaye talks to models during a recent branded merchandise photoshoot at Oasis Aqualounge. By the end of November that year, Oasis was open for business. The final layout includes a heated outdoor pool open year-round, a holdover from the bathhouse days , a hot tub, dance floor, several bars, a ballroom and a dungeon.
