Waiting game: Haunted Hospital still in city's hands

Ghosts are still up in the air, according to Valoree Gregory, Colfax unified executive director.

Gregory has been preparing for the final run of the Haunted Hospital at St. Ignatius, and she said that everything is ready to go with the new building owners. A contract deal has been reached among the owners, the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Association. That contract calls for the new owners to receive a portion of the proceeds from the Haunted Hospital.

The wait to re-launch the tours is contingent upon meetings with the city.

“The owner didn't realize it was still under no occupancy,” said Gregory.

The building was deemed unsafe for habitation by the City of Colfax in March of this year. The status never changed, though the signs around the building were taken down.

“Nobody's sure of who took the signs down,” said Gregory.

Gregory said she did not take down the signs, and neither did the city or the new owners. Gregory said the city and the new owners should be meeting soon to talk about what needs to be done at the building to make it safe for the tours.

“They (the owners) want me to start tours this weekend,” said Gregory.

Once the go-ahead is given, Gregory said she will organize volunteers to fence off areas indicated by the engineer as unsafe. Until then, the website for the tours will not be made public.

“I've got the website all ready to go, but I didn't want to sell tickets and then have to shut it down and refund everyone,” she said.

There are a number of people in line for the tours, Gregory indicated.

“Lots of Coug kids have been calling us,” she said. “We have a good group of people waiting.”

When Haunted Hospital does resume, this will be the final round. Gregory said the new owners are currently in early planning stages for the building.

“He definitely will have a plan by next spring,” she said.