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Abandoned hospital lures students, incurs damages |
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Wednesday, 05 March 2008 |
 Once a health care center for Banner Elk residents, Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital is a picture of damage and destruction since its abandonment in 2000. Special to The Appalachian
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by JILLIAN SWORDS
News Reporter
Since its abandonment in 2000, the Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital of Banner Elk has provided hours of thrill seeking for hopeful, hushed-voiced students, as well as ever-increasing frustration for police and the property’s owner.
“We have laws in this country for a reason,” said Olin Wooten, owner of the property. “I don’t care who you are, you should abide by that. If you want to beat up on somebody, join the boxing club.”
Over the years, groups of students have snuck onto the property and ravaged the building’s insides,
said officer Fred J. Shrader of the Banner Elk Police.
Although the property adjoins that of Lees-McRae College, Shrader said most students police catch are
from Appalachian State University.
Administrative Assistant with the Banner Elk Police Andrea Carter said five people have been given
citations for trespassing on the property this year.
 Once a health care center for Banner Elk residents, Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital is a picture of damage and destruction since its abandonment in 2000. Special to The Appalachian
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In 2007, one incident was reported in October, when 20 people, all students, were given citations.
In 2000, Cannon Memorial and Crossnore Memorial were both closed and merged into a larger, central
location in Linville.
Wooten, who owns numerous properties across the state, purchased the property as an investment.
It is currently up for sale again, but no bids have been made on the property.
Police used to simply issue warnings to students on the property, but when Wooten began complaining
of severe damage to the property, they began arresting those caught.
“If they get caught on the property, they’re charged with trespassing,” Shrader said. “If they’re in the
building, that’s breaking and entering. If they’re stealing [copper, aluminum, and other metals to sell],
then that’s a felony.”
Wooten said he just had a third gate put up on the property in an effort to keep trespassers out, though
the first two were torn down. He estimates $1.5 million worth of damage has been inflicted on the
property by trespassers so far.
“There are [Keep Out] signs everywhere,” Wooten said. “Can they read?”
Shrader said there are several spots where students usually park that tip police off to their presence at
the hospital, especially when there are several cars with Appalachian State stickers grouped together.
Senior recreation management major Craig L. Gosnell ventured out to the property during the week of
last Halloween, the time of year Shrader said police typically catch the most students.
 Once a health care center for Banner Elk residents, Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital is a picture of damage and destruction since its abandonment in 2000. Special to The Appalachian
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Gosnell’s group was caught, but given only a warning when it became clear they weren’t drinking or doing anything harmful to the property.
“It was really cloudy the night we went… We had difficulty finding it through the fog,” Gosnell said. “It
was really creepy, sort of cold, there was fog everywhere... You literally had to get an inch from the
[window] glass to see inside.”
One of the biggest draws for students is that when the hospital relocated, a good amount of materials
were left behind.
“There are electrical wires hanging from the ceiling, overturned gurneys…an IV still hooked up in one of
the rooms,” Gosnell said.
Shrader said in addition to checking for trespassers every night shift he works, police also search
several times a week to ensure there are no homeless people living in the building, although to his
knowledge there has never been anyone doing so.
Sophomore hospitality and tourism management major Jenna L. Rudnhammer has been out to the
property twice.
She and some of her friends were on a ghost hunt to see whatever creepy things they possibly could.
No spirits were seen, but the five-story building, complete with a basement and morgue that adjoins the
main building, still provided a thrill. Rudnhammer said.
“You can tell that it was used and kept nicely [at one time],” Rudnhammer said. But “all the ceiling and
floor tiles are smashed on the first floor. There are chemical spills all over some of the walls. The top
floor is full of offices, and…there’s still some desks and furniture and old computers…the ceiling is
falling through.”
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