Screenshot from Pennhurst Asylum Website

Many inside the haunt industry have heard of Randy Bates and his haunted attraction “The Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride”. We recently did a interview with Randy to talk about his attraction that you can read by clicking here. Recently he has announced that he is currently working with the property owners of the former Pennhurst State School and Hosptial in order to open a new haunted attraction there by their request. Unfortunately, it’s meet with some resistance from local residence that live close to the property and from an advocates of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities that claim this type of attraction exploits and brings a negative attitude toward those that suffer from real mental health disorders. Many haunts in the industry that have a “Asylum” theme have experience this form of criticism and complaint, but Bates points out that this attraction is not meant to be offensive. It’s their intention that this be a positive event to help preserve the property and support the local area.

“The idea was first born probably 18 months ago when I heard the commonwealth or the (Spring City) Armory or National Guard had (similar) events previously,” Chakejian said. “I thought, ‘Oh gee, wouldn’t that be a nice way to bring in some dollars for the rehabilitation’” of the property.

According to the property owner, Richard Chakejian, the property has been abandoned for around 20 years and has “become a very attractive nuisance” for trespassers who end up vandalizing the property. So, around 18 months ago, Chakejian considered a haunted attraction as a way “to bring in some dollars for the rehabilitation” of the property after hearing about similar events held by the commonwealth or Armory or National Guard. Although the buildings are old, the one constant is “the intrigue to visit”. So the decidied that a Halloween event meant for “a fun, family scare” would be perfect for the property.

Bates, due to his experience and success with his own attraction, was asked by the owners to join the business venture. While use to receiving positive feedback about his Bates Motel attraction, he’s been getting a very different response from those opposed to the new event.

“I’ve gotten an amazing number of e-mails from people telling me I should rot in hell,” Bates said. “I’m getting people who don’t even know me telling me I’m a monster.”

In an attempt to help improve the situation, Bates explained how co-president of the Pennhurst Memorial & Preservation Alliance, James Conroy Ph.D., offered suggestions and to help review the details of the attraction to help remove any offenses people could have with it. Chakejian himself acknowledged that he himself had family members at the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry in Northeast Philadelphia, so he was sensitive to the “mental disabilities viewpoint”.

Although Bates acknowledged claims by some who say that Pennhurst could be preserved by other ways of fundraising, Bates said “With a haunted attraction we can bring it up to code where it allows us to run the public through it, but not inhavit it.” He added “…the property was purchased to be developed, and then the owners decided they were not going to develop that. The problem is the buildings are in such bad share, there’s no way they can be rehabbed, or rebuilt without a lot of funds.”

UPDATE: ‘Pennhurst Asylum’ causes East Vincent supervisors to square off. Read full story here: http://pottsmerc.com/articles/2010/09/02/news/doc4c7f645bc583d883214820.txt