Midsummer Fright: St. Ignatius ghost hunts return

St. Ignatius ghost hunts are once again returning. Announced as a one-time Haunted Hospital event last October, the ghost hunts made their first return in December with the “Nightmare Before the Holidays” theme and will return July 8 and 9. The tours will coincide with the Concrete River Festival.

“People still want to see it,” said Valoree Gregory, Colfax’s unified executive director. “It will be one more thing people can do at Concrete River Festival.”

The hunts July 8 and 9 will be three-hour hunts of all six floors of the former hospital building. The tours will include the history of the building and stories of what paranormal teams have seen and heard. EMF readers, audio recorders and a spirit box will be available to use on the hunt.

Haunted Hospital was booked as a one-time event last year because proposals to convert the old hospital building to a housing complex have been in discussion for more than a year now. However, there has been no recent update about the proposed developments.

“I haven’t heard anything,” said Gregory. “There’s no discussion going on.”

Gregory said while the future of the building is up in the air, something does need to be done with it soon.

“It is deteriorating worse than before,” she said. “It’s still safe, but I’m afraid if he (the owner) doesn’t do anything soon it will get worse.”

Gregory said recent rains have left water damage inside, and there are some areas that will be roped off during the tours. She added that people have been helping to maintain the building.

“Nancy Cochran went up and mowed the lawn recently, and people are still helping up there so we can keep using it,” she said.

Gregory said there is still a possibility of more ghost hunts down the line at the building.

“If he lets us keep using it, we’ll use it,” she said. “We may have it for Halloween, but I can’t plan out that far because I don’t know.”

She added that people still call to inquire about tours.

First Thursday ghost hunts of the upstairs of some downtown buildings are still slated for July 7 as well. Those hunts include the upstairs of the Fraternity Block, the Dr. Weitze office and the old boarding house. Participants are asked to bring flashlights and meet in front of the library for those tours at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. Tickets can be purchased in advance online or at the Explore Colfax booth at the library the day of the event. Gregory added that if there are still slots left for the St. Ignatius ghost hunts, there will be tickets on sale there as well.

The July 8 and 9 hunts begin at 9 p.m. each night and end at midnight. Admission will be $45, and space is limited. Sign up is available at http://www.explorecolfax.com under the events tab. Money raised from the St. Ignatius hunts will go to the Colfax Downtown Association.