Plan to demo "haunted" building draws protests - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Plan to demo "haunted" building draws protests

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ATHENS, Ohio -

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Preservationists are trying to persuade an eastern Ohio university not to demolish an historic building that student folklore suggests is haunted.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Saturday that Ohio University plans to raze the 88-year-old Ridges Building 26, or old Beacon School, before Halloween. The structure was built as a tuberculosis ward to a historically significant state mental hospital that operated on the property for more than a century beginning in 1868. It sits near a cemetery.

University officials say the building is dangerous and attracts curiosity-seekers and vandals. Police arrested 55 people in 36 incidents over the past five years for prowling or trespassing in the area.

The Athens County Historical Society says a $300,000 state grant for demolition could be used to shore up and secure the property.

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