Fairfield Hills: a place simultaneously frozen in the past and brought up to speed with modern times. It operated under the name of Fairfield State Hospital from 1929 to 1963, then as Fairfield Hills Hospital, as a psychiatric facility from 1931 to 1995, housing over 4,000 patients at one time. Plans for reconstruction of the campus began in 2004 in order to sell individual buildings to commercial businesses and promote economic growth under the Fairfield Hills Master Plan. All additional information on the development can be found in the town’s public documents. As one might expect of an old psychiatric hospital, it is rumored to be under the constant, watchful eye of deceased residents spiritually bound to the property for eternity. Yes, it is haunted.

Its sprawling campus is situated along Interstate 84, directly across the street from Reed Intermediate School. Sidewalks and slow drives crisscross Fairfield Hills, welcoming a flow of residents and their dogs seeking exercise with a side of awe. Though a popular spot for cardio-enthusiasts, it has also been go-to for vandals. Signs are posted on the main buildings ordering all to keep “at least 15 feet back from buildings at all times” along with a community watch car that patrols to and fro all day. The Town of Newtown, Connecticut owns the campus and views it as a valuable asset worth protecting, and with good reason; in February of this year Governor Malloy granted Newtown $500,000 to be “utilized for the design and construction of infrastructure and streetscape elements” of Fairfield Hills.

What can not be changed with a lump sum is the property’s morbid history and frequency of torturous medical practices called “rehabilitation” by staff. Frontal-lobe lobotomies and electric shock therapy were commonplace at the hospital and often left patients more scarred than mentally rejuvenated. These tales make for good ghost stories, but signs of the very real suffering endured by patients linger to this day. Amateur paranormal investigators and curious local teenagers alike have attempted, and sometimes succeeded, in entering the buildings after dark to capture evidence of their own. Videos of ghosts banging on walls and screaming within the underground tunnels of Fairfield Hills can be found on YouTube, along with various eye-witness accounts told on public blogs. The Town takes notice of these self-commissioned detectives, of course, and intruders are almost always met by the local police force, should they attempt to enter the crumbling, decrepit buildings. Fairfield Hills’ managers even denied entry to the premises for the paranormal team from the popular television show Ghost Adventures. After the Fairfield Hills Authority voted against allowing the show admittance based on fears of drawing “more unwanted attention” to the buildings the community decided to focus less on the dark past and more on the bright future of the property.

That was two years ago, and although the town never thought twice about banning investigations into the historical property, much has changed on the premises. Buildings are becoming unrecognizable with slow, but steady construction. Many glass-paned windows that patients once peered out are now simply vacant rectangles dotting crumbling brick structures. Sunrooms once attached to the grounds’ smaller residences have been leveled to concrete slabs adjoined to now-pointless doors leading onto manicured grass. Despite the passing of time, one structure has managed to remain upright as the focal point of the whole property: the tower. It looms over the grounds, much taller than adjacent buildings, casting long shadows that stretch longer as the day grows old. Its height makes it Fairfield Hills’ closest feature to the heavens, save for lingering spirits caught in-between both worlds.

As economic growth and political influence overtake what is to become of Fairfield Hills Hospital, I cannot help but to feel sad over the destruction of such a historical place. It may have a long, complicated history interwoven with pain and anguish, but one must not forget how this time period served as a turning-point for the treatment of the mentally ill. The future of Fairfield Hills continues to weigh heavily on my mind as I wonder how I will talk my way into the new construction to charter my own paranormal investigation.