By Mary Ann Kearns
Ledger Independent
Three years after he bought the property, the current owner is looking for a buyer for Hayswood Hospital.
As recently as this spring, a representative of owner Brian J. Stitch addressed the Maysville Codes Enforcement Board’s vacant properties review commission, asking to be removed from the vacant and abandoned properties list. The commission approved the request.
Speaking on behalf of Square Husky Investments LLC, formerly Stitch Up Properties LLC, Kirsten Howse said the company was in the process of reviewing grants that could be available to open the site for tours.
The property was purchased by Stitch Up Properties LLC of Brandenburg in June 2018, with a purchase price of $50,000. The sale came with anticipation that the site would be rehabbed into a restaurant similar to another operated by Brian Stitch in an abandoned jail.
Hayswood was built in the 1920s and renovated several times over the years, the last time in the 1970s. It has become a popular site for claims of haunting, widely distributed on the internet.
In her request for removal from the list, Howse said the property had been secured with all outside entrances and windows boarded and the grounds mowed and maintained. Gates and fences have been installed along the entire perimeter of the property and crews were on-site to oversee the property on a monthly basis, she said.
The owners had hoped to open it for what she called historical tours.
Kevin Stitch posted on the Hayswood Hospital Facebook page on June 12, asking for a local real estate agent or broker who might be interested in listing “our hospital property for me.” Kevin Stitch of Louisville also lists himself as owner or co-owner of several “haunted” property attractions including Necropolis Underground Haunted Attraction, Fright Haven Haunted Attraction, Sindicate Haunted House Group, Malice Manor and The Haunted Hotel – Kentucky.
In the post, Kevin Stitch wrote “This unique property we were going to renovate for paranormal and haunting purposes to restore just won’t be in the scope of work I can get done in the near future. My haunted house business has exploded over the past 2 years and we need to focus on more projects we currently have going on at this time. “
Kevin Stitch’s Facebook page did not list a phone number. Questions sent by Facebook Messenger were unanswered by late Wednesday.
Once the site of the area’s primary health care facility, the Hayswood Hospital building was left empty in 1983 following the opening of Meadowview Regional Medical Center on Kentucky 9 AA Highway.
The property was originally purchased by Ester Johnson of Classic Properties in 1994 at a public auction for $42,000. Johnson, who had rehabbed the old Maysville High School building into apartments, said at the time she planned to renovate the Hayswood building into high-end apartments. But funding for the project never came about although Johnson retained ownership.
In 2002, city officials talked about condemning the building and razing the structure, even though it was still under the ownership of Johnson and Classic Properties. At a cost of more than $1 million for asbestos abatement, the plan was abandoned. Later, there was talk of applying for a grant to pay the costs of the abatement but because it remained in private hands that never developed beyond the discussion stage.
In 2013, the property’s unpaid tax bill was sold to Tax Ease Lien Servicing for nearly $6,000 in unpaid property taxes from 2008 and 2009. Johnson, acting as E.D. Haye Inc., asked that the property be offered for auction but later withdrew the request.
The city has fielded complaints from residents of the downtown area about the building for years but has been unable to find a solution for the problem the building poses.
Maysville City Manager Matt Wallingford said Wednesday he had just learned about the potential sale of the property.
The city, Wallingford said, is now aware of the plan and will explore its options.