Compounding Security Concerns—

The Web Gives Fairfield Hills A Reputation

Among Ghost Chasers And Thrill Seekers

By John Voket

As members of the Ad Hoc Fairfield Hills Management Committee were planning to meet Thursday night to begin formalizing new security protocol for the sprawling 180-plus-acre facility, web surfers could very well be planning their next midnight adventure through its cavernous halls, creepy morgue, and spooky tunnels.

If one runs the phrase “Fairfield Hills tunnels” through the popular search engine Google, it delivers more than 900 hits. Several of those hits lead right back to articles or discussion topics from The Newtown Bee website. And many point to sites containing separate references to each individual word with nary a direct reference to the local facility.

But after scrolling through several pages of links, there are well over a dozen that deliver either narrative accounts of trespassers chronicling their late night romps, or showcasing several frames to pages of photos of interior and exterior perspectives. This news did not sit well the John Reed, former Newtown school superintendent and chairman of the Ad Hoc committee.

“It’s a good illustration of one dimension of the [security] problem,” he said. “I don’t want to be critical of the state, but Fairfield Hills was part of their responsibility.”

When asked if the state was aware of the camera-toting trespassers and their websites, Mr Reed replied: “It would be an interesting question to ask.”

Earlier this week, First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal admitted he was surprised to hear of the proliferation of Internet sites referring to the myriad attractive nuisances tucked within the campus.

“I thought there was only one,” Mr Rosenthal said when presented with news about the variety of sites. “I guess we’ll have to look at that as part of the overall security situation.”

To that end, Mr Rosenthal said he sequestered himself in the meeting room at Edmond Town Hall last Friday with representatives of the Newtown Public Works Department, Police Department and school maintenance personnel to continue a dialog about how the town will secure the many buildings and tunnels below, once the property changes from state-owned to becoming another one of Newtown’s public facilities.

According to Mr Rosenthal, that eventuality is due to transpire in the next few days, possibly as early as Friday, July 30.

“We were meeting to look at different aspects of security,” he said.

He would not discuss specific proposed tactics, but Mr Rosenthal stated that there would be a tightening of security on the property. He was candid about his concerns, not as much for those accessing public municipal offices during regular business hours, or even those who might take some sort of twisted satisfaction from breaking a window or two, but for the safety and well-being of those who might venture into the buildings after dark.

“Technically if they are there [in the buildings] after dark, they are trespassing,” Mr Rosenthal said. “We don’t want to sound threatening, but we’re going to take action if trespassers are found there.”

Short of an outright threat of arrest, Mr Rosenthal did relent that visitors to Fairfield Hills would begin to notice some permanent and temporary measures going into place right away, along with a probable policy about access.

“We’re initially going to consider a dawn to dusk policy, or a half-hour before sunrise and half-hour after sunset [curfew],” he said. “And there will be signs posted at all public entry points so errant drivers who may make a wrong turn into the facility will be officially warned that they are trespassing if they are there, especially late at night.”

Mr Reed concurred with the first selectman. “We’re about to ask the understanding of people. Security procedures over the years have been poor, and the unsuccessful supervision of the activities has unintentionally encouraged this [trespassing],” said Mr Reed.

He also offered harsh words for those who might come to the campus for unlawful activities.

“I was told in the past that no one had ever been arrested if they were caught up there after dark — they were just told to leave,” Mr Reed said. “But once the town takes over, this must change. I think they should be arrested; telling them to leave just doesn’t do it.”

Mr Reed said security officers need to have a clear understanding that their personnel will receive the necessary support of the Newtown Police.

“The security people we put up there must know when they call for assistance, it is coming quickly,” Mr Reed said.

Thrills In The Night

Of course, it might be much easier to dissuade trespassers if it were not for websites like abandonedasylum.com, containing pages of narrative and photos of similar facilities across the country including Fairfield Hills. The local campus is prominently featured from a page displaying vintage postcards to a campus map to several detailed reports and dozens of exterior images of the property.

Another site put up by Rob Dobi, a Fairfield student at the Rhode Island School of Design, goes much deeper, with not only a brief history of the hospital and links to other sites, but a variety of exterior and more than 80 interior shots including several in the former morgue, as well as views of the access and utility tunnels beneath.

Yet another, geocities.com/arleture/chrintro, features images of the morgue and other interior shots treated in a slightly more artistic fashion. This site also includes photos of people trespassing inside the facility.

Numerous bulletin board links from the Internet search lead to accounts and individual experiences of those going out for a night on the campus, some offering tips and even directions to the locations where trespassers enter the grounds.

One of the more detailed and compelling sites is by a group calling itself Western Connecticut Paranormal Research. The so-called ghost hunters in the group provide a very comprehensive accounting of their paranormal “investigation” of the campus, including numerous interior and exterior images showing what they describe as, “…the fifth vortex, bell orbs, entities and pyshic [sic] fog.”

The author of the site, who can only be contacted through the site via email, also describes an encounter while photographing the catacombs:

“Midway on the left side is an round orb in this enclosed area of the catacombs, where I had felt a man who was frightened. I couldn’t feel any one else in this area by this man, but on photo inspection there is another orb just to the right of him. I stayed in the enclosure and could sense him cautiously approaching me when I snapped this photo. When I first went into the enclosure he was watching us from against the wall. Bill Heffner was successful in getting this same man on video tape.”

Mr Reed believes that police may have some latitude to contact those they can identify who have posted their ill-gotten exploits.

“From a practical perspective, if people are associating themselves with illegal activities, they should face the consequences,” he said. “I have to believe the police are already aware of these issues and the way people are entering the property.”