BRODHEAD — After multiple owners who have neglected and even damaged the building, the former Brodhead Middle School has a new purpose.

The century-old building was originally meant to foster the education of young people within the community. When it closed in 1996, 100 years after it was first built, it exchanged hands and sat empty, unused. 

But now it may serve as an example for new ideas, said Casey Jones, a non-voting member of the city Economic Development Committee. When Bill Wolter of Belvidere, Illinois, outbid Jones for the building, he soon realized it was a positive disappointment.

“They’re awesome,” Jones said, referencing Wolter and the other four owners, Ann-Margaret Naber, Ron Schubbe, Ronnie Cowgill and Brian Thomas. The group also owns R.I.P. Productions Inc. of Rockford, which has hosted annual haunted events in northern Illinois since 2002.

Jones was impressed when the group spent hours resetting warped gymnasium floorboards left by the prior owner. Wolter said it took hours to restore it and to make other necessary upgrades throughout the three-story building.

“The place was a nightmare when we bought it,” Wolter said.

He said the task was daunting, but then again, the group purchased the building with the sole purpose of spreading fear. The first floor is now home to the city’s first Screamatorium, a narrative-based haunted attraction with a PG-13 rating, according to R.I.P.’s website.

As the story goes, local mental patients escaped the confines of their facility, and according to fictitious newspaper, “The Old Post,” police in June 1998 were searching for these individuals last spotted near the former school building. A number of torture devices and weapons were found in the building and though no one was found, there were reports of “unidentifiable shadows” and sounds with unknown sources coming from the walls and ceiling. Then on Halloween day, a “house of horrors” was discovered in the school. The report noted it was likely linked to recent missing persons cases. 

The gaggle of escaped inmates included a nurse with a tendency for pain who met a man more pet than person, a clown with violent tendencies and a quiet physician. But within the school itself lay other secrets, hidden by a quiet janitor deemed too hideous to exist in the light. 

Screamatorium opened Oct. 19 in Brodhead and attracted more than 1,200 visitors, Wolter said. Some came from cities like Dubuque, Chicago and Milwaukee, with higher numbers the second weekend.

“We’re bringing the population of Brodhead to Brodhead,” Wolter said with a laugh.

Owner Ann-Margaret Naber explained that her husband Brian Thomas and their crew started setting the scene about eight weeks ago and added that while working there were some strange things that happened, for example, “things moved by themselves, or you could hear people walking through the halls and there was some unexplainable clanging.”

Monroe resident Tashona Smith, who portrays a nurse in the haunted house production, said the opening weekend “was really fun,” and that it was unexpectedly entertaining to terrify people. She sees the operation being successful in the future.

“I’m excited to see what else they’ll do with it,” Smith said. “I think it’s cool that the building could be saved. It’s a cool use for it. They really care; it’s not just jumping out and trying to scare people.”

While it’s the first of its kind in Brodhead, the shift to a permanent building is also a new step for R.I.P. Productions, which plans to use the second and third floors for other projects, Wolter said. 

“That building has been sitting like an eyesore for a long time and now it is no longer,” Jones said. “It gets people talking.”

Of course, the rumors of ghostly activity and the overall “creepy” ambiance of the structure help fuel attendance, Jones said. 

“It’s an old, spooky building,” he said, echoing what Smith had said. 

And while the owners have experienced weird noises and even taken photos to find an image of a floating face where no one was standing, Smith said her experience has been a bit different. Throughout the night on the opening weekend, she had to exit and enter a room frequently while acting out her role. Smith said every time she left the room, she would return to find the chairs had been moved.

Wolter informed local business owners that they could use the name Screamatorium for marketing purposes, offering food and drink specials for anyone who comes to their establishments with a wristband. Jones said the city has been happy to see the inclusion of such an attraction because of the possibilities it represents. 

“It’s drawing from all over the place,” Jones said. “It gets people in here. It gives the city hope.”

— Marian Viney contributed reporting.