Newtown First Selectman Tells Ghost Hunters to Stay Out of Psych Hospital
The Fairfield Hills Campus is located in Newtown, CT has been a source of pride and frustration for locals.
The campus was once the site of a psychiatric hospital. When the hospital closed, it became a destination for paranormal enthusiasts. While much of the campus has been renovated to house local businesses and municipal buildings, there are still some vacant structures on the property that have become a magnet for ghost hunters.
Dan Rosenthal is the First Selectman of Newtown, CT. Mr. Rosenthal joined us on our sister station on Tuesday (1/24/23) to cover a variety of town topics. We were discussing the health of the local economy and the campus came up.
I took the opportunity to ask the First Selectman about ghost hunters trespassing at some of the buildings on campus. I wondered aloud if the town would ever embrace the paranormal community and offer tours of the vacant psychiatric facility buildings? This is what Rosenthal had to say:
"That is certainly a frustration with people trying to get into the buildings. I mean these buildings, we try to secure them, it is illegal to go in them, they unfortunately need a lot more than a good sweeping and a coat of paint so they're not safe. I know there is stuff that gets out on the internet and so on and so forth, but we do have our police come in here and shoo people out of here, regularly. So, again that is why we really need to move on here and sort of decide the fate of the campus once and for all."
It's at this point in our discussion Ethan pointed out that was a no from the First Selectman on embracing the paranormal hunters. Rosenthal added:
"Yeah, if I have not been clear, that is a no, stay out of the buildings Lou."
You can hear the ghost hunter portion of our interview below.