Haunted History: Said to house angry spirits. Reports consist of spirits of military personal in the windows and doorways, many voices and foot steps in the main building while no one is there.
The Fitzsimons Army Hospital was a medical facility that was located on 577-acres in Aurora. The facility closed in 1999 and the grounds are currently being redeveloped for civilian use as the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Fitzsimons Life Science District.
The facility was founded by the United States Army during World War I arising from the need to treat the large number of casualties from chemical weapons in Europe. Denver’s reputation as a prime location for the treatment of tuberculosis led local citizens to lobby the Army on behalf of Denver as the site for the new hospital. Army Hospital 21, as it was first called, was formally dedicated in the autumn of 1918 in Aurora, which at the time had a population of less than 1,000. In July 1920, the facility was formally renamed the Fitzsimons Army Hospital after Lt. William T. Fitzsimons, the first American medical officer killed in World War I seen below.
A new main building, known as Building 500, was built in 1941. At the time, it was the largest structure in Colorado. This is a 1940’s postcard from the hospital:
This is what it looked like back in the 70’s:
It was used very heavily during World War II to treat returning casualties and became one of the Army’s premier medical training centers. In the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower received treatment here three separate times for his heart condition while he was president and he stayed here for a few months when he has his heart attack.
See some cool stuff about his stay can be found here:
Presidential candidate John Kerry was also born here in 1943, while his father was receiving treatment for tuberculosis.
In July 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of the facility. The closure was completed in 1999 and the remaining reserve center was relocated to the northeast portion of the site. The projected $5 billion redevelopment of the facility into civilian use currently includes the construction of the University of Colorado Hospital’s $147 million Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion and the $509-million Children’s Hospital.
Smokestack Demolishing in 2008:
This is what it looks like today:
Plans are underway for major improvements in this area as well as dozens of new upscale businesses including at least three hotels. One of which will be a Hyatt that will include at least 125 rooms.
It will probably look something like this:
The main entrance is and will continue to be located north on Ursula St. from Colfax Ave.
Travels, Spooks, History and A Little Weirdness 