Hello,
I am faced with an opportunity of a lifetime. That is to purchase a 5 story abandoned hospital.
This is an amazing structure, featuring older sections dating back to the late 1800s and newer sections dating back to the 1940s.
This building has 2 elevators, 3 elevator shafts, an extremely creepy basement.
On top of all of this, it is the most haunted building in town.

The biggest issue is making it work financially. Taxes are $9,000 per year and then there is the purchase price of the building.
One of my thoughts is to set it up as an urban explorers club type of thing.
Leave it as-is, and for a monthly membership fee, have access to take pictures and explore.
On top of this I think individual tours would be profitable too along with a "Haunted House" on halloween.

Would there be enough interest in this project to pull this off?
Any ideas or thoughts?
You can contact me at 1-406-458-7021
Pictures are located here: http://www.elkhorn...e.net/hospital.htm

Can you share some pictures of the building itself? Have you been inside? What state is it located?

I'm having troubles trying to attach photos from my phone. I'll put together a small website with some pictures on it. In the meantime, I can email anyone pictures. I'll try and get those pictures up online or soon as possible though.
The hospital location I am going to keep private for now for the privacy of the current owners. I can disclose the location upon request by phone. It would be located in the North Western U.S.

Id like a pic or two myself That would be nice if you could let us see what you are talking about.
But, DOES it have rooms of old equipment? Beds? a morgue? etc. If its just a old shell...not much interest for explorers. Expensive to maintain.


Sorry, was typing in the same time you were.

Don't?

Can you afford to maintain it, let alone repairs it already needs?
If the windows and especially the roof aren't intact the water damage alone can be extensive and very expensive.
How long has it been without heat?
What about the electrical and plumbing infrastructure?
Big building are expensive to maintain...

this is a terrible idea.

no explorer has ever said "man, i wish i could pay a monthly fee to see the same building over and over again"

The photo link is going to be http://www.elkhorn...e.net/hospital.htm

Posted by robdobi this is a terrible idea. no explorer has ever said "man, i wish i could pay a monthly fee to see the same building over and over again"

^ well yes but youre assuming "explorers" have not evolved into tourists

I mean wouldnt that be like going to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney Land over and over and pretending youre a pirate?

You might hire some actors to play security guards and they could jump out and scare members or chase them, ooops, splat, forgot about the open elevator shaft sorry.... our commercial liability insurance will probably cover that haha!

Posted by robdobi this is a terrible idea. no explorer has ever said "man, i wish i could pay a monthly fee to see the same building over and over again"

seconded!!

Posted by danieldialtone The photo link is going to be http://www.elkhorn...e.net/hospital.htm

this website looks older than the spacejam website.

I reviewed your pics of the hospital. I don't want to hurt your feelings but i don't see much that would be of an interest to anyone. If you wanted it to restore it for your personal space, it might be cool. As the stairwells look like they are still in good shape. But, overall it needs ALOT of work and would take ALOT of money. Unless, you are rolling in dough from a grand inheritance and you just want to redo it. It doesn't look like it offers much to an explorers view point or a business venture. Sorry!

You have to do something economically viable with it, like turning it into lofts or office space. If you want to give a nod to UE, have a few "doors open" events before you start construction where people can walk around and photograph it. Just make sure you have insurance.

Another consideration... location, location, location!

Posted by blackhawk Another consideration... location, location, location!

That was my first thought. If the location is good and buy in is decent you could take the first floors and turn them into shops and convert the rest to apartments. But from the photos I see a lot of work. I mean a helluva lot. It would need to be almost free sadly.

Sorry man but you should really consider this a folly if this post is even serious. Maybe you got millions to spend I don't know.

Before inviting customers into a hazardous location better check your local laws on code compliance, certificate of occupancy, asbestos remediation museum/carnival permits then how much your tax will be after you renovate or bring up to code, even if guests don't stay overnight you will need fire escapes sprinklers etc etc $$$

Don't have millions? Thats easy just find a bank willing to loan money on this business model. (then send me their name haha) or maybe you can rent enough respirators to the guests to offset any capitol shortfalls, at least they will look like real urban explorerz.

This is one of those things it sounds like a REALLY good idea in theory, but in practice it's kind of a shitty idea, unless you have several thousand dollars, possibly tens or even hundreds of thousands, to throw at this place to un-fuck it.

Point being, unless you're Scrooge McDuck'in literal swimming pools full of cash, you should probably pass buying this place.

All these people saying it's a horrible idea because "no one would want to pay to explore and take photos" are wrong...

Look at places like Waverly Hills San, which does tours and photographic tours. Or Eastern State Penn which ALSO does tours, ghost hunting, etc. Hell even a guy on UER charges for tours out of Traverse State Hospital.

I'm sure you could make it work, but talk to the groups that run those places and see how they've structured themselves financially, how they've advertised, raised money, etc.

It wont be easy, and you'll have to put a LOT of capital into making sure it's safe for people to go through (abatement is probably the first thing you need to get done). But it is totally an option, and an exciting one at that.

May well be the owners are trying to bale to avoid the ex$pense and bases of demo.
That property has the potential of being a costly liability.

I see a bankruptcy in your future...

Posted by Skye_Ann All these people saying it's a horrible idea because "no one would want to pay to explore and take photos" are wrong... Look at places like Waverly Hills San, which does tours and photographic tours. Or Eastern State Penn which ALSO does tours, ghost hunting, etc. Hell even a guy on UER charges for tours out of Traverse State Hospital. I'm sure you could make it work, but talk to the groups that run those places and see how they've structured themselves financially, how they've advertised, raised money, etc. It wont be easy, and you'll have to put a LOT of capital into making sure it's safe for people to go through (abatement is probably the first thing you need to get done). But it is totally an option, and an exciting one at that.

Those places are banking on the haunted angle and were known for such before being opened to the public. That's the rub here.

Posted by blackhawk May well be the owners are trying to bale to avoid the ex$pense and bases of demo. That property has the potential of being a costly liability. I see a bankruptcy in your future...

Especially when it comes to liability. If you knowingly allow explorers into the building, you are assuming some amount of responsibility for their safety. Trying to turn it into a business would require adhering to building codes, and it would be extremely cost prohibitive to make sure that the building is safe for human use. If someone falls through a floor, you as the owner would be liable for any injuries they suffer since you allowed them inside.