Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Since Sept. 21, tours at the former St. Ignatius Hospital have brought more than 1,000 people to Colfax with 80 percent of them coming from more than 50 miles. Only five resided in Colfax.
“It’s been interesting to see the people who come in,” said Valorie Gregory, Colfax unified executive director. Gregory and tour volunteers have booked 76 tours for a 53-day span and will close for the year at the end of November.
When things warm up in the spring, the tours at the hospital will resume while the outbuildings are renovated. According to Gregory, the owners are not sure what they will do with the hospital, but the tours will continue for the time being.
“He’s still thinking of different ideas,” Gregory noted. Plans for the outbuildings include turning the steam plant into a brewery. The building owners already have a brewer on board and working on recipes.
When the fall season of tours were announced, they were sold out in one week. This includes the $500 private party tours every Saturday in November from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.
“They sold out instantly,” Gregory said.
Other tours are three-hour paranormal investigations, two-hour ghost hunts, experiment night which was Sept. 25, Halloween ghost hunt, photography tours and a Friday the 13th movie night and ghost hunt. The movie night was the number-one night for the year, Gregory said.
“We’ve had tons of people who have called,” Gregory said. “We know people want to go back in.” She had people who have attended the tours all three years and people who have been trying to get in all three years.
The tours have been profitable for local groups and the owners who receive 50 percent of ticket sales as rent. For the fall, season total sales are about $30,000. The other half of that is shared by the Colfax Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Association.
“It’s an easy fundraiser for our little groups,” Gregory said.
The benefits of the tours go beyond ticket sales. Gregory noted the more people they bring to town, the more they boost the local economy. Visitors eat, sleep and shop in Colfax. Recently, she gave a tour to a group from Maryland that stayed in Colfax. Another group was from Hawaii and didn’t know what a WSU was.
“Now we hope we can keep doing it,” she said.
Gregory has enjoyed working with the new owners of the property, one of whom often visits. When he is down he looks at things with Gregory and gets things that need fixed.
“He’s wonderful to work with,” she said.
Gregory does not see a slackening of demand for a chance to go through the hospital. In addition to the possible ghosts, the building and its history also attract visitors.
“Some people just like looking at the building,” she noted. The number-one request she hears from people is to spend the night, but all tours come to an end at midnight.
“I hate it in there at night. It’s so creepy,” Gregory confessed.
A wide variety of people have come for the paranormal side of the hospital. One professional group had top-notch equipment and a psychic. Others have been more sketchy, with another group having only a camera with a failing battery and less equipment than the volunteer tour guides.
Given the number of tours Gregory and other volunteers have led, they could probably be considered professional ghost-hunters themselves now.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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