A group of more than 4,500 residents of Venice chipped in to buy a “haunted” island that once housed an asylum and a hospital for quarantined plague victims — to keep tourists away. The local investors are now due to take over the 18.5-acre island of Poveglia on Aug. 1 with a 99-year lease that will turn it into an urban park for Venetians that is strictly off limits to foreigners visiting the historic city, according to a report by CNN.

The spooky island sits on the southern end of the Venice lagoon. “It wasn’t just outrage, it was psychologically traumatic to realize that the city could be broken up and sold to the highest bidder, without a starting price, without even a plan,” Patrizia Veclani, who formed the group Poveglia per Tutti, or “Poveglia for Everyone,” told the outlet.