|
Election
time question ...
Where's
the best little whorehouse in Bardstown?
By
JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
An election year is a good time to ask
questions about why things do or don't get done by local government.
And while I don't expect to get any real answers, the questions
sure make interesting reading.
Q: Where's the Best Little Whorehouse
in Bardstown?
A: While I lack firsthand experience,
my well-informed (and experienced) sources say it's the Miyako
Spa, the local Asian spa that's been quietly operating for
a number of years at 624 North Third Street.
Now the Yellow Pages advertisement for
Miyako includes phrases like "A Relaxing Atmosphere"
and that they offer "Massage, Jacuzzi, Steam and Dry
Sauna." I'm sure all that is true, but my sources say
their services for an additional charge go beyond this list.
It's a well-established fact that Asian
spa businesses are frequently fronts for prostitution. In
July 2004, the Louisville Courier-Journal published a special
series of stories on Asian spas in Louisville (the stories
are still available on the C-J Web site under "Special
Reports").
The story in Jefferson County should
sound familiar: In the late 1990s, massage parlors and spas
began to move from the old Louisville city limits out into
the suburbs, some setting up shop in quiet neighborhoods.
It seems to me that Miyako came to town around that time,
setting up shop in the building built by former GBA owner
Gene Bazaar.
I'm not going to ignore the elephant
in the room about Miyako, either. They are what they are.
They may indeed be a legitimate business with no connection
to prostitution, but my sources who have visited the spa confirm
otherwise.
You can also watch the C-J sports section,
particularly during the Kentucky Derby or when there's a big
convention in Louisville. The massage parlors often advertise
in the sports section of the newspaper, and Bardstown's own
Miyako was often advertised in the paper along with the rest
of the Louisville-based spas.
The fact that Miyako has quietly existed
for a number of years in historic Bardstown may be a surprise
to some. But prostitution is nothing new to Bardstown. The
former Railroad Inn (a large building once located on the
R.J. Corman property) was long considered a legendary house
of ill repute dating back decades (the building's reputation
may indeed have been mostly legend).
According to the C-J stories, the Louisville
Police Department has worked to arrest prostitutes working
in spas in Jefferson County with varying degrees of success.
According to my source, the employees of these spas know what
they are looking for among their customers; they screen very
well to keep from being busted by the cops.
But if you acknowledge that Asian spas
are frequently fronts for prostitution, then some questions
beg for answers. To wit:
- Have local law enforcement received
complaints about Miyako? Have local police conducted any
undercover work there or made any arrests for prostitution
or related criminal activity?
- Is Miyako considered a problem by
local police or elected officials?
- Are local leaders concerned about
the possible spread of Asian spas in Nelson County?
- If these spas are being summarily
ignored, who (if anyone) is getting paid off to ignore them?
- What's the public's reaction to having
an Asian spa in Bardstown? I wonder what the Etheredge Insurance
folks (located in the adjacent section of the same building)
think about their neighbors?
The C-J stories highlight just how lucrative
the spa businesses can be. In a 2002 sting that involved the
owners of a spa in Louisville, the FBI seized more than $600,000
in cash at the couple's two homes and several spa businesses
in Kentucky, Ohio and W.Va.
The couples' Louisville spa, the Olympia
Spa on Bardstown Road, employed girls who rotated among massage
parlors, changing locations every few months. According to
my source, employees at Miyako told him a similar story.
So far, Miyako has not been the source
of any controversy in recent years. The business continues
to quietly operate, it's red and blue neon "OPEN"
sign illuminating the parking lot 24 hours a day, seven days
a week.
I've never witnessed anyone going into
or leaving the spa, though I did (on visits to my former rental
property nearby) observe one of the employees in the early
morning, with full "business" makeup, wearing a
bright red gown with long, flowing sheer sleeves, policing
the lot with a broom and dustpan, a cigarette unceremoniously
dangling from the corner of her mouth.
If nothing else, it proves the world's
oldest profession can survive by quietly going about its business
- even in Bardstown.
-30-
|
