St. Ignatius hospital building officially deemed unsafe

The City of Colfax last week posted these signs around the former St. Ignatius Hospital building.

Did the ghosts of St. Ignatius get the notice?

The City of Colfax has deemed the former St. Ignatius Hospital building unsafe for occupation, and the building on the south hill of Colfax last week was posted with a notice to not occupy the structure.

“The notice is to basically notify people of the unsafe conditions of the building,” said Irving Trejo, Colfax building and community development associate.

Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory told the Gazette in December that she had been told the city thought the building was unsafe, but the city had not issued a formal report to confirm that at that time.

The St. Ignatius building for the last two years has been the scene of Haunted Hospital tours and has generated substantial income for Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Association.

Gregory said as far as she knows, city officials did not go into the building for an inspection because she is the only one with a key.

Trejo said the building was inspected.

“I don’t remember the exact date,” he said. “There was a walkthrough. We were in the building.”

Mayor Todd Vanek told the Gazette in December that the city thought the building was unsafe, and when they were ready to issue a report, it would go to building owner Anthony Girges. Trejo said he was in the building prior to that time, but a report on the inspection was not issued until recently.

“We weren’t aware of people going in,” he said. “Now we’re trying to tell people it’s unsafe.”

Gregory said she was confused by the timing.

“If they were in there before, they should have sent the letter before,” she commented. “If it was unsafe, I wouldn’t go in. And if they’ve been sitting on that letter since November, then they potentially put us in danger.”

Gregory also noted she goes to the building weekly to check on it and make sure no one has broken in. She had also occasionally been taking potential buyers through the building and area photographers.

“Last week alone, I had 47 emails and phone calls from photographers asking if they could go in,” she reported Tuesday.

City council member Sarah McKnight inquired about the status of the building at Monday night’s city council session.

Chris Mathis, the city’s financial director who was acting as city administrator, said a notice on the building had been reviewed by the city attorney and then sent to Girges.

She said the chief concern for the city was the safety of city police and fire crews who might be called to enter the structure on official duty. She added people are going into the structure and even living in the structure and that makes the situation dangerous.

Gregory said at times when she checked out the structure she marked off areas that were dangerous, so that tour members would not enter those areas.

Trejo said Girges, who acquired the building nearly 15 years ago in a settlement suit, still intends to sell the building. A reported sale stalled in December after Girges and the potential buyer could not come to agreement on the terms of a needed environmental inspection. He added the city intends to work with Girges to determine the future of the building at this point.

“It’s boarded up and locked up,” Trejo said. “We did post those signs on behalf of the city, and we will go through those proper channels with the owner to see how he wants to proceed.”

Gregory said there could be competing goals between the city and Downtown Association for St. Ignatius.

“I don’t know what their goal is because they won’t tell me, but ours is to preserve the building,” she said.

Girges currently leases the building to Gregory through the Downtown Association. Gregory said she would like to know what the city has deemed wrong with the building so that it can be repaired. The notice to not occupy prohibits people from entering the building except for repairs, noted Gregory.

“We know it’s deteriorating,” she said. “We’re going to work with the building owner. I’m going to work with Anthony to see what we can do to help. We want to go in and fix some things, but we need to know what needs to be fixed.”

Trejo said he could not comment on the status of the building until he speaks more with Girges.

“We’ll figure out a plan of action,” he said.

Gregory said she hopes to work with Girges to be able to bring the building back up to code.

“Even if we don’t do the tours, it’s about getting the building sold,” she said. “We want to save the history of Colfax.”

Gregory noted she is contacted from time-to-time by potential buyers, and with the no occupancy signs now on the building, it will be nearly impossible to sell the building.

“This has deterred potential buyers,” she commented. “With those signs all around the building, I can’t imagine anyone who’s going to want to buy it. And when they have those signs on, I can’t take potential buyers in.”

Haunted Hospital tours have been conducted at various times since October of 2015, generating thousands of dollars for the Chamber and Downtown Association. These tours have also brought national attention to the abandoned building, with an hour long segment on TLC’s Paranormal Lockdown show airing to a national audience in January.

Gregory said while the revenue from Haunted Hospital did not go directly to the city, the tours did benefit the city.

“We brought 4,780 people to town,” she said. “That helps businesses and taxes. They did benefit from what we were doing. We benefitted the city.”

Gregory said she hopes to know more after Girges receives the letter from the city. Trejo said the letter is currently in route to Girges. Gregory added that she hopes Girges will work with the Downtown Association and the Chamber.

“Our hands are kind of tied,” she said. “He’s really not that involved with it, and now it’s causing him problems.”