Everything's Perfectly Paranormal Here
Facebook fans and the curious get together at the Linda Vista Community Hospital
An abandoned hospital seemed like a good place for the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project's first meet and greet.
During a March 8 investigation, the project discovered a mysterious footprint in the Linda Vista Community Hospital's boiler room. Mysterious because the print was fresh, and the hospital has been closed since 1991.
The March 12 meeting provided an opportunity to find out more about a group that many attendees previously knew only through Facebook.
"Tonight is about us thanking all our friends, all our family and the fans that we got on Facebook all of a sudden," Boyle Heights Paranormal Project founder Richard "Standing Bear" Berni told KPCC. “What I had planned was having a small get-together at a local coffee shop but the guy (who takes care of the Linda Vista Community Hospital) said 'No, no, no, you have to hold it here.' And here we are."
There they were, amid the boarded up windows, scaffolding, dangling ceiling tiles and electronic voice monitoring equipment.
The group formed in 2005. Berni told KPCC that he tried to keep things secret until he found others who were interested for the right reasons.
"I didn’t want to go mainstream or do anything substantial until I had the right group, and now I’m surrounded by a group of people who are pretty awesome and work well together," Berni told KPCC. "We are very professional and sincere."
The hospital was originally the Santa Fe Railroad Hospital. It was built for rail employees in the early 1900s.
Since it closed in 1991, it has served as a filming location. Some hospital scenes from "Pearl Harbor" were shot at the location.
As for that footprint in the boiler room, it's still anyone's guess.
Boyle Heights Paranormal Project from 89.3 KPCC on Vimeo.
