Could There Be Ghosts at Seaside?

I recently experienced unexplained phenomena on my first visit to the grounds of the former Seaside Regional Center in Waterford, also known as the Seaside Sanatorium.

As I was walking the jetty away from the main hospital building toward Long Island Sound, I saw a white light, about the size of a small television, in the bottom left corner of a small window below the steeple. It stayed on for about 10 minutes. I took five different photos of this light; a close-up and four far away pictures from different distances away from the aging building. It certainly was not a flashlight, a security light, or glare from the sun since it was a cloudy day and the sun was setting in the opposite direction. Before seeing the light, I took photos of the hospital and the light does not appear in them.

The abandoned building has been vandalized and boarded up many times. On my last visit, there were no visible places where someone could sneak in without being obviously noticed and I didn’t see or hear anyone go in or out during the time I was there.

While I was walking around Seaside with my friend, his cell phone lost cell reception for several minutes and my phone lost Internet service for some time. A state social worker who was walking with a patient on the grounds also said that phones act strange in that area.

The hospital’s dark history could be the reason that the campus is home to such paranormal activity.

According to Cass Gilbert Society, the former sanatorium housed tuberculosis patients from 1934-1959, served as a geriatric center from 1959 to 1961, and then became a home for the mentally challenged until it was closed in 1996. The facility’s closure, the Examiner reported, came as the result of allegations of violent patient abuse with a higher than normal mortality rate.

The Examiner reports that the Connecticut Ghost Seekers have also seen strange lights and mists show up in photos of the facility. They have observed shadows and heard ghostly voices. Paranormal investigators have evidence of disembodied voices on recordings and believe that there are ghosts of workers and children. Some activity has been observed on the playground.

Seaside has architecturally beautiful buildings (click here for a map) that were designed by architect Cass Gilbert who also designed the U.S. Supreme Court and New Haven’s Union Station. Unfortunately, the State of Connecticut who owns this property, has allowed them to decay. The property has also been victim to vandals who have stolen paperwork, supplies, and spray painted graffiti on walls. While the buildings are closed to the public, there are plenty of photos online which show walls peeling and ceilings caving in.

Despite its decaying and vandalized buildings and the claims of paranormal activity, Seaside is a beautiful shoreline area where people bring their dogs for a walk and relax at the beach. The Day recently reported that the site, which is next door to Harkness Memorial State Park, attracts so many people the neighbors are complaining of the numbers of cars seen in the parking lot off Shore Road and the trash visitors leave behind. 

I wonder how many other people out there have witnessed unexplained events either when working, being a patient, or visiting Seaside Regional Center. I’d be interested in seeing other photos of strange lights and mists and hearing people’s stories. Feel free to comment or e-mail me at corey_neil_sipe@yahoo.com.