In the fall of 1990, Torres Trucking and Excavation was hired to demolish and rebuild Metz Elementary School on the city’s East Side. Erected in 1915, the historic building had been deemed unsalvageable because of safety concerns, and Austin’s school district opted to have it stripped to the studs. Unfortunately, the project came to a halt when rumors of paranormal activity began to circulate around the demolition site.

One worker claimed he saw the ghost of a boy watching him out of the bathroom window. Others said that they could hear groups of children giggling within the empty rooms. The sound of chalk screeching down unseen chalkboards echoed through the halls. Strange drawings were left scribbled on the walls of barren classrooms. Joe Torres, the demolition’s leader, said that his brand-new watch stopped ticking every time he stepped foot on the property. Even heavy machinery, such as the bulldozers brought in to raze the school, started to falter.

“It’s kind of hard for me to swallow,” admitted Torres, according to an article in the Austin American-Statesman. “I’m not a superstitious person, but you walk through and think if these walls could talk.”

Eventually, Elias Limon of the Casa Guadalupe Catholic Center was brought in to put an end to the haunting. Armed with holy water and a prayer book, he implored the spirits to leave before the walls came tumbling down. The demolition was completed, but Limon’s prayers apparently only had a temporary effect, as the renovated campus is still inundated with reports of haunted activity to this day.