Anton Art Center haunted?
Macomb, Michigan. Strange reports of doors opening and closing on their own, disembodied laughter of children and other strange sounds have been reported in the Anton Art Center.
The 105 year old building is full of these reports by staff and visitors.
“Scientific Paranormal Investigations of Michigan” (warning: loud annoying music when visiting the site ) are investigating such claims.
From Macomb Daily
By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer
Doors slamming shut. Children’s voices and weird laughter heard in empty rooms.
Is the Anton Art Center in downtown Mount Clemens haunted?
The answer may be revealed when researchers from the Scientific Paranormal Investigations of Michigan present their findings on the 105-year-old building on Oct. 24.
The ghost investigators, armed with a cache of tools, spent a night at the center on Macomb Place in an effort to prove or disprove the existence of spirits housed there.
“We invited them to come here to check out some odd ex
periences we’ve had,” said Jennifer Callans, the center’s executive director. “They won’t tell us what they found; we’ll have to wait and see like everyone else.”
Callans stressed there has been nothing dangerous going on at the Art Center, which was created in 1969.
The Center is housed in the historic Carnegie Library Building, erected in 1904. Financed by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the neoclassical structure is listed in the State of Michigan Historic Register.
Trish Lidster, an investigator from the Scientific Paranormal Investigations of Michigan, said her team used several infrared cameras, tape recorders and other equipment when they stayed in the center from 9 p.m. until after midnight one night.
She said the group’s purpose is primarily to debunk stories of haunted houses or to alleviate the fear of people who believe their properties are haunted by providing logical explanations for odd sounds or images. They work at no charge.
“We have thousands of dollars invested in helping people not be afraid of things or to try to understand noises they may hear in the middle of the night,” she said.
Lidster, 47, of White Lake Township in Oakland County, works for Home Depot during the day. She’s been with the paranormal group for three years. Her interest in ghosts began when she was 14 and hanging out in cemeteries.
To date, she has yet to uncover evidence of life on the other side — but would like to.
“We’re hoping one day we do find something,” she said, adding the group has captured numerous voices or shapes on their detection equipment. “I’ve never been scared doing this, although I’ve been startled now and then.”
Lidster said despite the lack of concrete evidence, she believes in life after death. “It seems impossible to me that one’s soul would just blink out and be gone. I guess we’ll all find out eventually.”
Callans, who earned a doctorate and master’s degree in anthropology, acknowledges she’s skeptical. “I believe spaces have personalities. To our knowledge, no one has ever died in this building,” she said.
The group did discover something at the Art Center they hadn’t been told about by employees, but they’re saving that for the free Ghost Talk scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24.
For more information, visit www.theartcenter.org.
