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Former Catholic School Now Haunted Mansion For Booster Clubs’ Fundraiser

BUTLER TOWNSHIP — A former Catholic school in Schuylkill County is getting some use in a most “Spooktacular” way. The vacant Cardinal Brennan School, now ...

BUTLER TOWNSHIP -- A former Catholic school in Schuylkill County is getting some use in a most “Spooktacular” way.

The vacant Cardinal Brennan School, now owned by the North Schuylkill School District, is now a haunted attraction for Halloween!

And this is a fundraiser for the booster clubs of two of the district’s athletic teams.

Screams and shouts rang out inside this haunted attraction as ghouls and ghosts popped out from hidden locations.

The former Cardinal Brennan Catholic School, now owned by the North Schuylkill School District, has been transformed into a Haunted Mansion near Ashland.

It's to raise money for the district's cross country and soccer teams' booster clubs, with tickets going for $8 for an adult and $5 for children under 10.

“For the last two years we've done a haunted trail through the woods behind the stadium and it worked out really well and we wanted to find a way to expand it and make it even bigger and this is the perfect venue,” said Cross Country Coach Franklin Briggs.

Cardinal Brennan was closed by the Diocese of Allentown in 2007 and then bought by the district in 2015 with the intention of turning it into a middle school.

However, the district says no renovation work has been done due to lack of funding.

As this is the first event to be held here, many visitors wanted to see the inside of a building that`s been shuttered for a decade.

“Actually, one lady called, her grandfather had graduated from here and she's coming back tonight to see the place,” said Briggs. “In fact, we've had people call us from as far west as Colorado, as south as Texas.”

Karen Faust from New Ringgold worked here as a guidance counselor.

“It's going to bring back a lot of memories. My office used to be down in the basement.”

When asked if she might feel the presence of spirits from her old days at the school, she laughed and said, “Oh absolutely the sisters are walking around!”

“Oh, I'm looking forward to seeing the inside, yeah,” said Steven Hoffman from Ashland.

“I'm feeling it, I'm getting sweaty, I'm getting the chills,” said North Schuylkill Senior Sara Manback, who is a member of the soccer team.

“I'm scared, I don't want to be alone, I hope my friends are with me,” said Sara’s teammate, senior Erica Schmid.

The Haunted Mansion is open every Friday and Saturday night from 7 pm to 10 pm through the end of the month. So come out! That’s if you dare.

 

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