BC is home to some of the most beautiful places in the country, but it’s also home to some of the spookiest spots too.
The neighbourhood of Tranquille in Kamloops is just one of those places — and its sanatorium is a big reason for that.
RELATED: The 5 Creepiest Abandoned Places in British Columbia
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Tranquille Sanatorium
The Tranquille Sanatorium was once a tuberculosis sanatorium — where more than 1,500 people lost their lives to the disease in the early 1900s.
The eerie site gained fame on MTV’s “Fear.” The current manager of the historic location emphasizes it’s not haunted by ghosts. Instead, its true history creates the mystery.
However, some superstitious locals believe spirits linger. They think patients who died and former care workers haunt the facility.
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The Tranquille Sanatorium was built in 1907 to treat the disease, which was called the “white plague” at that time. The province bought the land for the sanatorium and the small community of Tranquille was built around it shortly afterwards as the epidemic continued to spread.
What makes this building even more creepy to some — are the underground tunnels. These tunnels were reportedly used to help staff members move goods around while staying at a safe distance given the disease could be contagious.
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The building gets its name from the Tranquille River, which feeds into Kamloops Lake. Chief Tranquille was the leader of the Secwepemc people living in this region back in the early 19th century, so the name also pays homage to him.
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There is a community that is built around the tuberculosis facility, with quite a few amenities for the time. There were gardens, houses, a gymnasium, farm, auditorium, cafeteria, laundry mat, tennis courts, a steam plant, a school for handicapped children named “Stsmemelt Village”, and more. It even had its very own fire department.
Over the years, the building was The hospital closed it’s doors in 1958, but was swiftly reopened in 1959 to treat those suffering from mental illnesses. In 1983, it was closed again before briefly reopening as a detention centre for young offenders until the 1990s. Since then, it’s sat empty.
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Future of Tranquille
In the early 1990s, an Italian developer purchased the land with hopes to transform it into a resort called “Padova City”. Unfortunately, the BC government intervened and halted the demolition.
After that, the site became popular for the local film industry. It was featured in films like The A-Team and Firewall.
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And in more recent history, the facility was being operated by Tranquille Farm Fresh. The farm hosted a number of events there, including tours of the grounds and even an escape room. However, these stopped during the pandemic and has not yet been brought back.
The site has also reportedly been approved for a future resort community, called Tranquille On The Lake. But not a lot about what that would entail is known at this point.
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