Indiana Paranormal
Investigations along with Dan T. Hall, the director
and producer of the documentary, were granted exclusive, one-time
access to the complete facility including the 5 miles of underground
tunnels for the purpose of conducting a paranormal investigation
and filming the documentary.
City selling more Central State land
IBJ 05.01.07
A development team that bought 115 acres at the former site of Central State Hospital may soon buy another 33 acres from the city, at a cost of $223,500. Sound cheap? Mike Higbee, president of Development Concepts Inc. and one of the buyers, said the price reflects a need to clear the land and address environmental issues before development.
City gives OK to $2.1 million sale of Central State site IBJ 12.07.06
Indianapolis' metropolitan development commission on Wednesday approved the sale of the 160-acre former Westside home of Central State Hospital. The buyer, a private joint venture called High Mark Development, will start negotiating with the city to find new uses for the site, which held a hospital for the mentally ill for nearly 150 years.
Nuvo DVD Review: Two stories in one by Paul F. P. Pogue, December 20, 2006
The first is an examination of Central State’s history, supported by interviews with former patients and staff and a remarkable collection of archival footage, most of it never before seen. The second follows Hall, Marilene Isaacs and the Indiana Paranormal Investigators as they explore the site’s ancient tunnels and abandoned rooms in search of evidence of hauntings, ghosts and psychic imprints.
IndyStar.com
Movies: 'Central State' generates buzz Friday, October 27, 2006
Dan T. Hall's documentary, "Central State: Asylum for the Insane," attracted a sell-out crowd Saturday night at the IMAX Theater, even as Heartland Film Festival movies were playing all over town.
There
are approximately 10 buildings on the grounds associated with
the hospital. Unfortunately, most of the historic buildings that
housed patients, since it opened in 1848, are now gone. There
are currently 3 more modern wards that were built
in 1974 when the others were demolished. The
oldest
building on the property is the old power house, built in 1886.
The Administration building, which was built in 1938, is now
most commonly associated with the hospital, although it never
housed patients. Many
people have "unofficially" gained access to this building,
but there is really much more to the hospital including the 5
miles of underground tunnels which have been inaccessible to
visitors until now.
We
have also seen other groups make claims that you will be arrested
on the spot if you visit the grounds, which is not true during
the day. A museum is run in the Old
Pathology building, built in 1895, and the grounds are open
for sporting events. Anyone is welcome to stop by and
take pictures.
There
are
police
frequently patroling the grounds and if they ask you to leave, please do so.
As
always, breaking and entering is against the law. Do not
attempt to enter
any of the buildings. Most of them are in poor condtition and
can be very dangerous in the dark.
History and Legends of Central State History: In
1848, the Indiana Hospital for the Insane opened it's doors. In the
late 1970s, many of the buildings were declared unsound and demolished.
In 1994, the state of Indiana closed the hospital in favor of more
advanced treatment methods. Legend: It
is said that some patients suffered inhuman cruelty and years
of abuse while housed in this institution. Some patients who were
diagnosed as "criminally insane" were kept in a state
of near-perpetual restraint. Workers in the 1950s were renovating
tunnels under the facility and discovered dark rooms in the recesses
of the tunnels that still bore chains and manacles on their walls.
One of the patients hung himself on the grounds. Phenomena: Security guards still claim to hear the
screams and moans of former patients on the grounds, and to see
the blurry
form of patients run by the guard shack. A woman screaming and
moaning is heard in the old powerhouse by the boiler, and shadows
are seen moving around the room. In the pump room a man was awakened
by the sensation of being strangled, and he had the marks on
his neck to prove it. Books: Haunted Indiana 3 Websites: Indiana
Commission on Public Records Indiana Medical History Museum Central
State Reuse Commission Historic
Asylums Indiana Historical Society (photo of Seven Steeples)
Map
of the buildings on the grounds in 2007. The
light red buildings are some of the old victorian buildings
that were torn down in
the early 1970s, but this map gives you an idea of where they
were located. The dates indicated are the dates the existing
buildings were constructed. Click on the map to see a larger
version.
Content may
be disturbing to some viewers.