Q2 Asian Massage still open despite city orders to shut down - newschannel20.com

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill (WICS) — NewsChannel 20 has confirmed a massage parlor shut down by the city of Springfield is still operating.

This after the city shut down 11 parlors earlier this month for violating a new city ordinance.

NewsChannel 20's Emily Jordan spent her day knocking on the doors of all those establishments.

With a little help from a NewsChannel 20 staffer, we found that Q2 Asian Massage is still operating, despite the city's order to close.

We knocked on doors...tried doorbells...

On all 11 of the massage parlors shut down by the city of Springfield. On all of the doors or windows this bright green sign was visible.

It said unsafe and dangerous structure—occupancy of this structure is prohibited. They were posted there by the city.

Those notices were also on the windows of Q2 spa, on West Lawrence Avenue.

But, when we rang the bell as instructed, a woman answered the door.

In fact, our staffer was able to go inside Q2 Asian Massage and confirm they were still open.

We took our concerns to Greg Moredock, corporation counsel for the city of Springfield.

"Were you guys aware up until today of any operations continuing at Q2?" NewsChannel 20’s Emily Jordan asked.

"So we've been running inspections like I said and we haven't had any reports of it. From our inspectors or police officers. But I haven’t had any evidence presented to me about it that we've been able to act on,” Moredock said.

He told NewsChannel 20 he'd send an inspector there right away.

Moredock said this isn't the first time a business has ignored the city's order.

"So if we find that any of these establishments--the eleven that we talked about have patrons in there, like Illinois Relax Massage did or Cozy Cabin Spa did, we file for a temporary restraining order in circuit court, asking us to be able to go on the premises and change the locks,” Moredock said.

Moredock said they have other ways to check if a business is still operating.

"We can look at how much power is being used at the location, whether the water's being used through CWLP,” Moredock said.

Jordan followed up with corporation counsel Thursday afternoon to see if that inspector did go to Q2 spa.

He responded, “No court action has been taken today, as we don't have proof of anyone inside the building. That being said, city personnel has been to this location today and will continue to monitor to ensure our code is being complied with."

NewsChannel 20 also looked at other local towns and how they are dealing with similar issues.

Southern View is the latest village to pass an ordinance requiring massage establishments to register with local governments.

The village of Southern View passed the ordinance Tuesday night. It went into effect Wednesday.

Don Craven, the legal counsel for Southern View, said it's modeled after the Chatham and Springfield ordinances.

Craven said it will help keep the community safe by making sure any new businesses opening in Southern View are being properly licensed.

"Clearly there are public health and safety concerns. There are--there are also concerns about criminal activity. The Springfield city council some would say pushing massage parlors out of the city, we wanted to be prepared,” Craven said.

Craven said it's a safety net that allows the Southern View Police Department and the mayor to shut down establishments without relying on a criminal process.

Riverton also passed a similar ordinance last week.

We've reached out to the Southern View Police Department and we're still waiting on a response.

NewsChannel 20 will continue to update this story.