AN OLD, BREATHTAKING BUILDING, PLAGUED WITH CLAIMS OF PARANORMAL ACTIVITY- COLORADO SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND THE BLIND IS A PLACE THAT LEAVES MUCH TO ONE'S IMAGINATION.
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The Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind was originally founded in 1874, and is still in operation today. It is the only school in the State of Colorado dedicated solely to the education of the deaf and the blind.
The school serves children ages 3 to 21, and in the 2018-2019 school year, there was a recorded 189 students attending the school.
With it's Collegiate Gothic Revival style- it naturally makes one wonder if anything dark lurks behind it's walls or in it's history. Include the buildings' age as being over 100-years-old, it may come as no surprise that paranormal activity has been reported on the property,
Reports specifically by the deaf and blind students attending the school and those who work night shift at the school...
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How It Became
In 1874, Jonathan R. Kennedy founded, “The Colorado Institute for the Education of Mutes," and opened the school on April 8, 1874 in a rental home in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The school opened to serve just seven students. Kennedy's children held three of the seven slots.
In 1893, the school was renamed the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, and was granted it's current location on Pike's Peak Avenue by William Jackson Palmer.
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The campus houses three separate schools: one being for deaf students, another for blind students, and the other being for post high school students. With campus building names, such as: The Gottlieb Building, the Adams Building, the Stone Building, and the Lions Building.
In 1952, the Gottlieb building was rebuilt, after being burned by a devastating fire. It's unknown if there were any injuries or casualties in the fire, as we have been unsuccessful at locating any further information on the Gottlieb building' fire.
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Self-Sustaining
For those that pass the school, a very distinctive landmark is the large white chimney-like structure that stands tall in front of the school.
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Although this structure may appear to be an eerie one, we were informed by workers at the school that this structure simply provides the school with heat, as it's an old steam plant!
Once burning coal to create heat, the plant now burns natural gas, and is still in working order today.
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Upon reading a few articles about the area, we thought that the white, chimney-like structure may have been tied to a possible underground crematorium and tunnels along Pikes Peak Avenue, created to transport the bodies of people who had passed at area' hospitals from Tuberculosis.
*** (Be sure to stay tuned with our blog, as we dive more into the underground tunnel systems and crematoriums in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in our future blog posts.)
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Sexual Assault Claims
In 2011, a student at Colorado School for the Deaf in Blind in Colorado Springs, Colorado, admitted to sexually assaulting 5 other students at the school.
A rather unusual part about this case was that the former principal and other staff at the school failed to report the abuse to appropriate authorities.
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The school was accused with documenting the incidents of abuse and simply moving the student to a new room, instead of the appropriate action (which would have been filing the abuse allegations with child protection authorities).
A Two-Headed Sunflower on the Property
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Two of the five families sued the school for not taking appropriate action, and The State of Colorado agreed to pay a total of $1.4 million to those families, in lieu of having staff stand trial in the case.
The compensation was paid by the state after a judge attested that the school should have took action in the two years after becoming aware that the student was abusing other vulnerable students.
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The Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind issued a statement saying, “We’re satisfied a settlement has been achieved. We look forward to continuing to serve the needs of children across the state of Colorado. Their well-being and education remain our first priority.”
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Reports of Haunt
After speaking to people and reading different articles, it seems to be a general consensus that the basement is the creepiest part of the property, especially after nightfall.
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There have, too, been claims that deaf students have seen ghosts in the dorms of the school, in the gym, and in the basement. Blind students, as well as workers at the school, have reported hearing strange noises coming from the basement.
We were able to confirm by a daytime groundskeeper that night staff have reported encountering spirits or other paranormal activity in the school.
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A Personal Experience
Although others have reported paranormal experiences and have seen or heard things that they believe to be paranormal, we did not encounter anything as such while visiting the property.
Our experience visiting the school grounds was a pleasant one. The property was beautiful, the architecture was brilliant, and the staff we spoke to on the property were helpful and friendly. A 37-year resident to Colorado Springs, Colorado, going by the name Sterling, stopped us to talk about history in the area, which added to our overall experience.
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Photos From The Visit:
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