By Tim Binnall
A shuttered hospital said to be one of the most haunted locations in Minnesota has gone on the market for a surprisingly low price. The Pokegama Sanatorium in the community of Park City was reportedly a treatment center for tuberculosis patients for nearly four decades before closing its doors in the 1940s. Ownership of the facility subsequently changed hands several times until the site was outright abandoned in 1986. As one might imagine, in the ensuing years, all manner of spooky stories became attached to the century-old building wherein countless unfortunate individuals perished so long ago.
Tales of spirits inhabiting the former hospital were put to the proverbial test back in 2016 when local paranormal researcher Eric Moen conducted an investigation at the site and marveled to a Minnesota media outlet that, following his visit to the eerie location, "my belief in ghosts finally solidified" as a result of what he experienced there. Specifically, the ghost hunter claims to have heard the disembodied footsteps of children, filmed mysterious orbs and mists in the air, and captured an EVP in which the unnerving words "watch us from hell" could be heard. Based on the variety of anomalous activity that he encountered at the site, Moen concluded that the former sanatorium is "very haunted."
However, not everyone is convinced of that assessment as Gene Aurelies, who lives next door to the abandoned building, offered a decidedly different take to a local TV station. Noting that "sometimes at one o'clock in the morning you see flashlights in there" as thrill seekers search for spirits, the elderly gentleman declared that "I think they're full of hot air" and indicated that "if there's any ghosts, they never bothered us." As for the potential sale of the site, Aurelies argued that the $75,000 asking price for the dilapidated building, which he likened to a "hole in the wall," is actually too high and said that the future of the site "doesn't make any difference to me, at my age." So while one may not wind up 'owning' any ghosts should they buy the property, they'll at least have a neighbor who seems to be quite the character.