The OES visited the Town Street Medical Building in July 2003. Located on East Town Street in downtown Columbus, this large medical professional building had been abandoned since about 2002, when 4MX Partners bought the building from US HealthStar Corp. The building served for many years as the offices for about twenty doctors. The structure was considered very outdated and was in need of serious repairs. Instead of renovating the building, the owners closed it, leaving behind furniture, electronic equipment, and medical supplies. Much of the building seemed to be structurally sound, but there was obviously some water damage from leaking pipes. Ceiling tiles hung down, and the carpet was extremely damp in the areas of the leaks.
We were quite surprised to find shelves full of prescription drugs, bandages, and full IV bags left behind. There were also tubes of urine and blood samples left in the lab area, and used needles littered the floors. Computer hardware and software, patient files, and other medical records were left in the building as well. The building was extremely dangerous due to the biohazardous materials left behind and was monitored closely by armed guards, a security system and routine police patrols. We spoke to some of the guards who worked in the building, and they believed the place was haunted. They described a general eerie feeling in the basement and could hear mysterious noises when all was quiet. Apparently, a few people had died in the building over the years. Despite the reports, we did not experience anything paranormal during our exploration. The building was demolished sometime between 2009 and 2011.
Location Information: Demolished
The Town Street Medical Building was located at the intersection of East Town Street and South Washington Avenue; Franklin County.
Photographs
This was the abandoned medical building as seen from East Town Street.
A look down the side of the building from an adjacent alley.
This was the large sign in front of the building.
Another view of the building from the street corner.
In the rear of the building, looking up to the roof.
This is the area where patients would be dropped off for their appointments.
The main doors were just beyond this small courtyard.
This was the view of downtown Columbus from the rooftop of the building.
This utility room in the basement held what appeared to be hot water tanks.
This small utility room had a little green tank and quite a few pipes.
This was the janitor's sink where mop buckets were filled.
Some new light bulbs were left behind in this utility room.
Some type of large machinery, perhaps a boiler.
This utility room was full of furnaces.
There were a couple of furnaces in this room.
Only authorized personnel were permitted in this room.
Some electrical panels along the wall in the basement.
This was one of the master electrical boxes coming into the building.
A small electrical room was in this crowded top floor hallway.
This hallway in the basement ended at a stairway.
An office area off of the basement hallway.
Lots of medical supplies were left behind. Here are some medical gloves.
Some test tubes inside paper bags.
Most of the basement was occupied by a large lab area.
This refrigerator was still operating. It was used for specimen storage.
Inside the fridge was what appeared to be urine and blood samples.
A whole bunch of empty biohazard containers.
A few of the documents that were left behind.
Huge stacks of documentation left behind by the basement lab.
Another look at the files.
Maybe it was around Christmas time when this part of the building was shut down.
Several boxes of Actos, a drug used to treat diabetes, were left behind.
Some unused syringes remained on this counter.
Some kind of metal medical instruments.
Bottles of some kind of solution were in this bag.
A few IV bags were among the items left in a supply room.
All kinds of medical gear for strains and sprains were scattered about the floor.
Some more test tubes were on a counter.
Here are more specimen bags that were left in the lab area.
This tank was labeled XR-24. It may have been used to hold nitrogen.
Here is a cabinet full of assorted drugs.
The other half of the drug cabinet.
This appeared to be an old lab or exam area.
There was a massive amount of water damage to the ceiling in this area.
There were four to five exam rooms that were orange.
In a different part of the building, the exam rooms looked like this.
This was a small waiting area in a large exam room.
Curtains were used to divide the largest exam room.
A sink and counter was on one side of this exam room.
On the other side was this exam chair.
This large ventilation hood was in one of the offices.
A biohazard sign was located nearby.
Used needles were scattered on the floor of this exam room.
A vase and some photos remained behind in another room.
The entry way into what may have been a break area.
A 2002 calendar was on the floor of that room.
A lab coat was left in the closet.
This was once a huge file room.
The laundry room was on one of the lower floors.
Piles of old and stinky gowns were all over the floor.
A couple of more lab coats were behind a door.
This supply cabinet was on rollers so that it could be taken to any room.
A creepy hallway that led to the mail room.
The mail room felt more like a dungeon.
A large conference room was in the office area.
The lobby for Scioto Valley Urology.
The ceiling tiles in this waiting area were falling down.
The tiles fell onto furniture and smelled really bad.
An office area for the urology department.
The Capital Primary Care lobby was at the main doors to the building.
Stacks of old chairs filled the lobby.
Just behind the half wall was the big file room, previously pictured.
The entrance to the Musculoskeletal Specialist lobby.
The small reception desk for the specialists office.
A few coffee mugs were left behind on this desk.
Various wires hung down from the ceiling.
A bookshelf around the corner from the desk.
Stacks of boxes full of miscellaneous items were in this small office.
This large office had cabinets along one of the walls.
This office was lined with wood paneling.
A bedpan and some bottles of alcohol were left on this cart.
Stacks of files were piled in this office.
This small office contained old computer goods.
More boxes filled with files were in an office down the hallway.
These stairs went from the main office down to the large conference room.
A hallway in the musculoskeletal department.
A small dumbwaiter at the end of the hallway.
Another dark hallway.
Patient rooms lined the hallway.
These stairs led up to even more rooms.
This old stretcher was in the middle of one hallway.
The break area upstairs had a television and some magazines.
Stacks of files lined the hallways of the top floor.
Some index files included patients' contact information.
A very small file storage closet was just off of a narrow passageway.
Several large rooms were off of this upstairs hallway.
A hose drop was just across the hallway from the narrow passage.
A nice kitchen was just off of the break area.
Another dumbwaiter was upstairs.
A gigantic phone sat on the table in the corner.
This was the only structural damage other than the leaking pipes.
A lone teddy bear sat in a dark corner.
A radiation sign on a door in the basement.
An old Sony BetaMax was on the floor of an office.
A microfiche machine was around the corner from the BetaMax.
Files and software were piled up in the corner.
A lot of computer equipment was stacked in this room.
This award apparently didn't mean much to the person who received it.
An evacuation chart hung on the wall in the hall.
Another evacuation chart was on a different floor.
A really old exit light hung from the ceiling.
Some nasty residue left in a tub.
The only graffiti we saw in the building was on this piece of paper.
