COLFAX, Wash. – The owners of an old hospital in Colfax known for its ghost tours says the state told them to shut down tours over safety concerns.
Austin Storm and his wife operate the Colfax Haunted Hospital. The old St. Ignatius Hospital was built in 1893 and shut down in the late 1960s.
The hospital is a popular spot for ghost tours, especially during the Halloween season.
Storm posted online that the Department of Labor and Industries paid him a visit late last week and told them that because of a complaint, the ghost tours are on hold.
“Right as we were heading into our busiest tour season, we were shut down,” Austin Storm wrote on a GoFundMe he created to raise money. “After a neighbor harassed one of our tour guides, tried to get us in trouble with the city, and then filed a complaint with Washington State Labor & Industries about the building’s safety, our tours were shut down last Friday. Until this is resolved, we have been forced to cancel all tours.”
The Department of Labor and Industries said it opened an investigation due to a referral for alleged asbestos and lead construction. A spokesperson told 4 News Now that there is confirmed to be asbestos at the site and the department cannot have people there with asbestos on site.
4 News Now also checked with the City of Colfax to see if there have been any instructions for the property to be shut down, but there has not.
The Department of Labor and Industries says Storm voluntarily stopped the tours and was not forced by their agency to stop the tours.
On the Facebook page for the hospital, the owners said they’ll be reaching out to anyone who already has tickets to see if they want a refund or use the ticket to tour an 1893 hotel.
The GoFundMe set up by Austin Storm has already raised more than $9,400.
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