Trick or Treat? Behind the scenes of Niwot's Haunted House

Now it can be told.

For well over 20 years, long-time Niwot resident and real estate agent Pat Murphy has sponsored, organized, funded and championed the Great Pumpkin Party on the Saturday before Halloween, and whenever there is a vacant commercial space in town, she has been quick to ask if it can be used for a haunted house as part of the event.

Murphy has often worked with the Niwot High School Key Club to construct and staff the haunted house, and this year was no exception.

Except that it almost didn't happen.

The new owner of the former Niwot Feed & Rental building was approached about the possibility of using it for a haunted house. He had recently offered it to the Niwot Cultural Arts Association for use at no cost as a place for an artist's reception following the Why Not Niwot? Juried Art Show in September.

The owner did not have any immediate plans for the building and generously offered to make it available at no cost for the haunted house. That turned out to be the easy part.

The owner had his attorney draw up a simple license agreement, which included normal provisions requiring insurance and compliance with any governmental regulations. Everything was coming together in early October as the Niwot Business Association agreed to add the property owner as an additional insured to its insurance policy.

Then the NBA asked if any permits were required. That's when a phone call to Mountain View Fire Rescue was made to check on any permit requirements. As it turned out, the fire district person who normally responded to voice messages was out, so it was a few days until the fire district called back to say, "yes," a permit was required, and it had to be applied for at least 10 business days in advance to allow for inspections. The return call came eight calendar days before the scheduled and already publicized event.

Then the local Farmer's Insurance agent for the NBA called to break the news that "haunted houses" were specifically excluded from coverage, and the property could not be added to the NBA policy for use as a haunted house.

At about the same time, it was discovered that emails to the Niwot High School Key Club sponsor were apparently going to the former sponsor, not the new sponsor. And to complicate matters further, the Farmer's Insurance agency had just been sold and was under new ownership.

Murphy was not easily deterred. She got in touch with the new Key Club sponsor, then drove to the Mountain View Fire Rescue offices and spoke directly to the chief, explaining the long tradition Niwot had with a haunted house as part of the Halloween event. She was able to get the application prepared and submitted, arrange an inspection, and get approval within a few days. That left the insurance issue.

As it turned out, Lyndsey Cumberland, the new Farmers Insurance owner, whose staff had been trying to find an insurance company to issue a one-day policy for a haunted house, was a member of the Kiwanis Club. She knew that Kiwanis clubs sponsored Key Clubs, and that the Kiwanis carried insurance specifically covering haunted houses. She got in touch with the NHS Key Club and Kiwanis, and arranged to add the Niwot property owner to the Kiwanis policy as an additional insured.

Everything came together at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, and the License Agreement was signed just as the NHS students were let into the property to begin constructing the haunted house, with just enough time to have it ready by Saturday, Oct. 29.

And the haunted house went off without a hitch.