My Haunted Fowler

01/21/2025

In approximately 24 hours we should know the fate of the old Benton County jail. We have 826 signatures of support. If you're available to attend to show your support, the meeting starts at 8:15a in the County courthouse Wednesday January 22nd. Indiana Landmarks

01/18/2025

We are just a few days away from the Benton County Commissioners meeting (it was moved from their regularly scheduled date to Wednesday 1/22/25 in the Benton County Courthouse at 8:15am). At that meeting, they will decide the fate of the old Benton County jail built in 1876 and one of the cornerstones of the town of Fowler when it became the county seat. If you want to show what the historical significance means to you, show up and show your support.

What am I hoping for? My hope is that the new commissioners will take into consideration the historical significance of this building to the town, the county and the state of Indiana. Our town buildings have been falling down for years and my hope is we take the opportunity to help one of the most beautifully designed buildings to continue to stand tall. If we do preserve the building, the county could use the rest of the land to tear down an existing smaller garage and possibly build a larger storage facility around the old jail.

Will there be costs to save the building? Yes.

Do we have to pay for it all at once? No.

Where will the money come from? That is a discussion point hopefully between spending money to tear it down or spend the same money to fix the most needed repairs first while we pursue grants, tax breaks and other funds to continue the mission of saving the building.

If we save it, then what? A group of us including myself would love to help with the care and feeding of the building in saving it and in finding new uses while preserving the historical significance. We are ready to help write grants, do fundraising and put in more sweat equity (some of us including myself have put in our own time and money to make interior repairs and some clean up on our own).

The building can help with tourism and could be used for some retail type services (some saved jails have thriving businesses in them). We can continue to use for tours including ghost hunts. We have brought in over 450 people from around the country and as far as Findland to go on a ghost hunt. That has brought in $1,000's of dollars for the Prairie Preservation Guild and all went back into historical preservation funds

01/18/2025

We are just a few days away from the Benton County Commissioners meeting (it was moved from their regularly scheduled date to Wednesday 1/22/25 in the Benton County Courthouse at 8:15am). At that meeting, they will decide the fate of the old Benton County jail built in 1876 and one of the cornerstones of the town of Fowler when it became the county seat. If you want to show what the historical significance means to you, show up and show your support.

What am I hoping for? My hope is that the new commissioners will take into consideration the historical significance of this building to the town, the county and the state of Indiana. Our town buildings have been falling down for years and my hope is we take the opportunity to help one of the most beautifully designed buildings to continue to stand tall. If we do preserve the building, the county could use the rest of the land to tear down an existing smaller garage and possibly build a larger storage facility around the old jail.

Will there be costs to save the building? Yes.

Do we have to pay for it all at once? No.

Where will the money come from? That is a discussion point hopefully between spending money to tear it down or spend the same money to fix the most needed repairs first while we pursue grants, tax breaks and other funds to continue the mission of saving the building.

If we save it, then what? A group of us including myself would love to help with the care and feeding of the building in saving it and in finding new uses while preserving the historical significance. We are ready to help write grants, do fundraising and put in more sweat equity (some of us including myself have put in our own time and money to make interior repairs and some clean up on our own).

The building can help with tourism and could be used for some retail type services (some saved jails have thriving businesses in them). We can continue to use for tours including ghost hunts. We have brought in over 450 people from around the country and as far as Findland to go on a ghost hunt. That has brought in $1,000's of dollars for the Prairie Preservation Guild and all went back into historical preservation funds (some of which was spent on jail repairs).

We don't know the costs yet to save it, but we do know it will cost at least $108K to tear it down and then whatever the costs will be to build a new storage facility. Hopefully we can turn this into a win/win by saving the building, using the land for a new facility around the jail and a chance to work together for something better for our town and community.

Save the Historic Benton County Jail from Demolition

01/16/2025

"Something else" turns on the spot lights and color side lights.

01/14/2025

There's a correction on when the commissioners meeting next. It is January 22nd because of the Monday holiday. The time is still the same 8: 15a in the commissioners building at the courthouse. Feel free to attend to show your support for trying to save the old jail.

Save the Historic Benton County Jail from Demolition

01/11/2025

Strange sounds in the wee hours at the Fowler Theatre.

01/10/2025

Giving Bluesky a try

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01/04/2025

Truths and rumors part 2.

Our use of the jail has never been a secret. We were provided approval by the previous sheriff.

During a time we were working with the Travel Channel, we had good meetings with the commissioners and the county attorney to review legal language for a possible episode on the jail.

Every time we host a Ghost Hunt at the jail and the Fowler theater, we notify the sheriff's department and the Fowler Police department so there is awareness that people are in the buildings after hours.

We have been using the same waiver that was used by a previous a previous personusing the jail for ghost hunts that was approved by county legal and reapproved after we updated it with current lead information so that we were compliant. I have 450 plus copies of signed waivers if ever needed.

I have respect for and a good relationship with Sheriff John Cox that dates back to our years working together at Purdue.

If you hear something from someone and you want confirmation, feel free to reach out to me. I can at least share my side of the story instead of letting things fester and build through a grapevine.

I'm hopefully as transparent as possible in that I want to save the jail, preserve history, I want to improve on the building itself and I want to continue using it the way we have in the past as well as explore new opportunities.

12/31/2024

Let's dispel some rumors and share some truths.
The old jail needs a new roof.

The old jail has mold in the basement.

The physical structure of the jail is in good shape and per Indiana Landmarks is in better shape than our courthouse in some areas.

The mold in the jail is actually nowhere near as bad as the mold was when they saved The Fowler Theatre per Indiana Landmarks.

The lowest quote to tear down the building was $108,000. The highest quote was $189,000. I believe the highest quote is closer to what it will cost once you tear down the building, haul away the limestone and then fill in the big hole.
None of those quotes includes the cost to build the structure they want to put there to house stuff (not sure all of the stuff, but there was something mentioned about the K9's).

Someone is interested in buying the old jail if the county is not interested in saving it. That would be money coming in instead of money going out.

The old jail isn't just sitting there. We have used it consistently for paranormal investigations for the past 5 years as well as walking tours.

So what you say. We earned approximately $8,000 last year and that money went back into the theater as well as some repairs we made in the jail.

During COVID, paranormal investigations at the theater and the old jail helped us keep our doors open bringing in consistent income helping keep the theater open.

And finally, no I'm not moving to Oxford. I am impressed by the work Oxford is doing to preserve their town.

https://www.change.org/SaveBentonJail

12/28/2024

It's been a while since I shared, but we still have hope that something can be done to save the old Benton County jail and meet the needs of the county. We are at 692 signatures of support. Indiana Landmarks brought in an architect to assess the old jail and demolition bids came in with the lowest bid from Dwenger Excavating at $108K (and likely another cost later to fill in the hole). Indiana Landmarks is supposed to present at the commissioner meeting January 21st. The meeting is in the courthouse at 8:15a and open to the public.

Save the Historic Benton County Jail from Demolition

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas ⛄

12/25/2024

Looking my best on Christmas Eve

12/23/2024

Historic Preservation is not for the Weak

Preserving history is not as easy as flipping on a switch. For example, The Fowler Theatre took 15 years to finish the restoration. But In the end, it was worth it to see it restored to a beautiful state and to retain a very key important part of Fowler, Benton County and Indiana history.

If we are able to preserve the old Benton County jail, we will start where we are with what's needed the most: a new roof, some work to stop water leaking in and mold abatement. But that's just the first step.

Plans will need to be mapped out for future restoration efforts to take place over time. There will be a need to focus on the plumbing, the windows and many interior components. But that doesn't have to be done all at once. As we say in project work, you don't have to eat the elephant all in one bite.

We hope you will show your support by signing the petition and if possible, being present at the January 21st commissioners meeting.

Save the Historic Benton County Jail from Demolition

12/22/2024

Check out Jake Ghost Hunter

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12/22/2024

From our lead tonight at the Fowler Theatre

12/19/2024

I counted at least 10 empty locations on 5th Street and possibly an 11th. One or two may have some historical significance but I'm not aware of any others. Maybe Mainstream finds a better location with more suitable parking outside of town and that space could be used some county needs. I'm just trying to throw out some options.

12/18/2024

I was asked what would be the plan for the jail long-term. I had ideas around tours but gave it a lot more thought. I think the jail could be a great place for a welcome center. We could partner with the senior center to help staff it. We could also work with the historical society to spread out history amongst the two locations. Their space is very tight these days. We could continue to do tours and open public tours once a month. The ghost hunts are extremely popular. They are income generating and can be reinvested back into the community for historical preservation. Let's make Fowler and Benton County a destination and help save not only the jail, but other locations and businesses in the area. I'm worried about the future of our small towns and afraid they will get swallowed up in decay and loss.