Another somewhat more uncommon myth is that the school's
principal and a teacher were having an extramarital affair, and, unable to
escape their marriages, committed a dual-suicide in the principal's
office, right above the basement's hole-entrance. This is wrong on many
levels. Once again, no official record of death in the building. Secondly,
the "hole-entrance" to the basement did not exist when the building was in
use, and exists today in a classroom, not the principal's office.
Crime
Although there have never been any reports of murder, there was a report
of a rape (both the accused and victim homeless) inside the building
following its abandonment. Aside from that, the only arrests made there
have been for trespassing and vandalism.
Satanic Rituals/Witchcraft
The building has without doubt been used by "Satanists" and/or others for
such purposes since its abandonment. There have been several confirmed
sightings of makeshift altars with animal remains seated atop them,
although such activity seems to have ceased in the past two to three
years, most likely in response to heightened security, and no obvious
evidence remains.
The Building's Present Condition & Security Measures
The exterior walls of the building are very overgrown with vines, and
defaced by a mild amount of graffiti. There are several trees and
countless ferns growing out of the roof, and in the warmer months ferns
and vines can be found in a well-lit hallway on the second floor, as well
as creeping down the cement stairs.
The grass surrounding the building is well-kept, and a tall chain link
fence with barbed wire, erected in the latter half of 2004, surrounds the
property. When the fence was put in place, so were a series of blindingly
bright floodlights on utility poles around the perimeter. The lights are
photo-activated, and click on at sundown.
There is a small abandoned house (as well as a tool shed) on the school's
property which supposedly once housed the groundskeeper and guardian of
the building.
The interior of the building is absolutely covered with graffiti, some of
it many decades old. Pentagrams and swastikas abound, as well as sinister
messages, bad spelling and grammar, the occasional pleasant poetry, and
the lyrics to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit." The parts of the
building that receive no ventilation are quite dusty. It can easily be
seen with a flashlight, wafting through the air. Some of this dust is most
certainly asbestos.
All of the doors and windows on the first floor have been sealed off, most
by plywood, some by cinder blocks and masonry. Many of the second-floor
windows have also been boarded up. The entrance for the present owners of
the building is the front door, which has been replaced by two large
hinged pieces of plywood secured by heavy chains and six heavy Master
locks.
Parts of the first floor have no second floor immediately above them,
which creates a roof that is accessible through smashed hallway windows on
the second floor. There are several ventilation ducts (which are now
simply holes in the ceiling) that one could easily fall through if walking
on this "sub-roof."
There is one classroom that was clearly the site of the fire. The
ceiling's paint is charred black, and there are countless pieces of burned
wood laying around.
It is most unusual the number of items left behind by those that last used
the building. It is not uncommon to find un-graded schoolwork, desks,
school pamphlets, newspapers, etc. I once found a signed field trip
permission slip dated April, 1976. The floor is totally littered in many
places with trash left by vagrants and squatters over the years.
One of the most notable sites in the building is the view of the
auditorium (ceiling collapsed) from the balcony on the second story. It is
best during the daylight.
The building does have a basement, which is quite unusual for Florida,
especially given Jacksonville's high water table. After searching the
interior and exterior of the building, I never found the intended entrance
to the basement, however I believe it to be near the auditorium's stage
(there is a chimney behind the stage, which I believe to be connected to
the basement's boiler). However, the basement is still accessible through
a small hole in the cement floor of a classroom on the first level. The
distance from the hole to the floor of the basement is around seven to
eight feet.
The basement is, without doubt, the most unusual part of this building.
The floor is simply dirt. Like most basements, it is very cold. Footprints
and dogs' paw prints can be seen everywhere, as well as shallow holes
obviously dug by dogs. The paw prints were apparently left there before
the basement's true entrance was sealed. The basement is not simply one
large room, like most basements. For every room up above, there is a
corresponding room below, with elegant red brick archways instead of
doors. This creates a feeling of being inside a tunnel system rather than
a basement. There is some trash in the area immediately below the hole, as
well as some graffiti, but but both stop there. The farther you wander
from the hole-entrance, the fewer footprints can be seen. There are
countless steel pipes (presumably steam pipes) running horizontally
through the "tunnels," which one must step over or crawl under. When in
the basement, it becomes apparent that either part of the building is
sinking, the soil level is rising, or both. The farther the walk, the
farther you must bend forward to avoid smashing your head on the ceiling.
The size of the basement and the labyrinth feeling that all of the twists
and turns give it led me to feel that the basement may extend out beyond
the actual building, although this is rationally unlikely.
There is a small house located just outside the fence, which is occupied
by an elderly man who can often be seen walking his dog around the
building and frequently notifies police and/or the building's owners of
trespassers. He may or may not be paid by the school's present owner.
