There are many points of interest to this story, but if you’re going to take away one lesson, it should be about the importance of healthy local news media. Because if not for The Montpelier Bridge, the doughty nonprofit news organization, nobody in and around the city would know that a hinky-as-all-getout “health spa” seems to be operating right in the middle of downtown. In a building co-owned by a current candidate for state Senate, no less.

No, not in some half-empty strip mall on the outskirts or in a ramshackle building along a truck route. It’s in a prime storefront, just a couple of blocks away from the Statehouse. (Which makes me yearn for a look at the outfit’s client list, just to check for political types stuck in the nation’s smallest capital city for several months with plenty of spare time on their, or someone else’s, hands.)

Back in March, The Bridge first broke the story of the “Hawaiian Spa” and another dubious enterprise in a more downmarket address in Montpelier. In its most recent edition, the story was revisited and updated. Has anyone else followed suit? Not the local almost-daily Times Argus. Not Seven Days, which often strays down to central Vermont to cover state politics and local businesses. VTDigger, which frequently publishes content from The Bridge, has kept its hands off this hot potato.

If not for The Bridge, would anyone outside the local constabulary know? I don’t think so. And while there’s no absolute proof that the Hawaiian spa is selling massages with happy endings, its presence is surely a matter of public interest.

This business is located on Langdon Street in the former home of Onion River Sports (Warren Kitzmiller may be rolling in his grave) and its successor, Onion River Outdoors. (The latter business moved to the City Center after the flood of July 2023.) The upper floors of the building were converted to apartments. And the ground-floor retail space? It displays all the hallmarks of An Enterprise That Dare Not Speak Its Name.

There’s a bare minimum of signage, just a hand-painted “Hawaiian Spa” over the recessed front door. No indication of services offered. No phone number or other contact information. The large windows are covered by gauzy curtains, thin enough to be tantalizing yet opaque enough to block any clear view of what’s happening inside. There’s a cheap electric “OPEN” sign in the window that’s lit during business hours. Everything about it screams “adult enterprise operating on a shoestring.”

Bridge reporters Cassandra Hemenway and Phil Dodd put together an impressive piece of old-fashioned journalism that laid out the evidence, pointed fingers in appropriate directions, and described the moral and legal dimensions without judgment. I highly recommend their stories, linked above.

I must emphasize that I’m not casting any moral judgments on a massage parlor with all the extras. I will make two assertions. First, such a business is not an asset to a downtown that professes to be a high-quality, full-service destination. The fact that a shady enterprise was able to sign a multi-year lease for a big space in the heart of the city — and that the retail space next door is apparently the location of a new nondenominational church — paints a pretty dire picture of downtown property values.

And second, as pointed out in the Bridge articles, these “health spas” are often a front for organized crime and human trafficking. If the workers are freely choosing their jobs, fine. If not, we’ve got a problem.

This year, the Legislature passed a bill that would require more state oversight of massage parlors and their staff. It seems like a step in the right direction, enabling action against criminal enterprises without sweeping the entire sex industry into the same net. The bill awaits Gov. Phil Scott’s signature. If it becomes law, the first place that ought to be looked into is almost literally in the shadow of the Statehouse.