Allegan Lodge Investigation 2014

This beautiful Greek revival structure was built in 1909 and began its existence as the John Robinson Hospital in Allegan, Michigan. Al Capone is reported to have used its services. It was used as a psychiatric and TB hospital until its closure in 1948. It changed hands many times and did remain vacant for a time until it was purchased as a lodge for the Elks in 1961 and then bought by Shelia Deever in June 2010. She has been attempting to fix up the place.

There were many deaths while it was a hospital, I was able to come up with two names in my search: Effie Mabel Reynolds (born 30 Mar 1882, Saugatuck, Allegan, MI; died 19 Oct 1913 John Robinson Hospital and Joseph Heisel died 25 May 1910 at the hospital. Mr. Heisel was with Co. E 21^st Michigan Infantry Volunteers and was interred in Oakwood Cemetery.)

Located at 701 Marshall Ave, Allegan, MI. 49010-1635 (Off M-89)

Phone: 269-673-5656

Owner: Shelia Deever, Innkeeper of Allegan Country Inn

Hauntings: For many years, stories of spirits who restlessly roam the building have been told by employees and visitors. Some of the activity experienced here include: cabinets opening up by themselves in the kitchen, sounds of children laughing, photographic anomalies captured throughout the building, shadow figures in the basement where the morgue was located, indiscernible conversations, knocking on the front door and ringing of the doorbell when no one was present, footsteps, sound of hospital activity long after being used as one, full bodied apparitions of children. Shelia was even slapped in the face, and had her ear pinched and glasses displaced on one occasion.

Equipment setup: A full-spectrum Spectercam was set up in the basement facing into one of the back rooms near where the old morgue used to be. Motion detectors were placed in the doorway of that room to signal any motion or movement of figures traversing back and forth in and out of that room. An additional set up motion detectors was placed in what is called the “creepy staircase” between the upstairs ballroom and the kitchen area. The shadow detector along with an IR camcorder was positioned in the ballroom upstairs along with a REM Epod. The Command Center was setup on the main floor.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Allegan Lodge on June 14, 2014. Team members included: Stan Suho, Marge Sucha, Kathie Para, Michael Wright, Sandy Weber, Katerine Meagher and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Debbie Ready.

Experiments performed: EVP, Ghost Box and Ovilus X sessions were conducted in the basement, ballroom, attic and the first room on the left on the first floor. I also used the EVP Field Processor during the EVP session in the ballroom.

Personal Experiences:

Stan Suho: A big old building built in the style of the Masonic Halls of the past. The building is completely empty of furniture and other trappings. All their rooms were very large, with a big basement. I bought along the complete G.E.I.S.T. setup, plus we had our ACE EVP crew with us. After the walk through we decided the basement would be the best location for G.E.I.S.T., with Dale's cameras on the second floor in the "Ballroom". In addition Dale took the time to do some crew training on the setup and use of a remote camera. The full G.E.I.S.T. setup was used with Ghost Camera and Ghost Microphone. These were monitored at the command post which was established on the 1st floor. The Audacity Laptop along with a DVR was put to good use. Another monitor kept watch on Dale's 2nd floor camera. This place was so big that the two groups seldom crossed paths. I was kept busy in the basement.

When the command post was secured, I readied my Sony IR Camera for action and went in search of the EVP crew. I located them in a small room off the main ballroom. I spent the rest of the evening taking photos and participating in the EVP sessions.

Conclusions:
After reviewing my Audio and Video recordings, sorry to say nothing unusual showed up but hope springs eternal.

Kathy Para: GRS investigated the Allegan Lodge (formerly the Allegan Elks Club and originally John Robinson Hospital) on June 14, 2014. Present were: Dale, Stan, Marge, Sandy, Kat, Mike, Debbie and me.

Personally, I have investigated and visited this building many times and have had some awesome experiences there.

All in all we had quite a bit of activity there.

In the basement had cold spots, temp once went from 59 to 63 degrees in a matter of seconds. We also heard disembodies voices, had K-II activity and smelled cigar/pipe smoke on a couple of occasions. Ovilus and ghost box sessions also proved successful. The most exciting was after we had been talking about the pipe smell, a voice coming out of the ghost box clearly asked “do you wanna smoke?”

The second floor ballroom was the most interesting, I feel. During our session there, shadows were seen and many noises and voices were heard. There was a ball with a cord attached to it on the floor there and as we were wrapping up our investigation of the area one of the team rolled the ball and asked for it to be rolled back. Having the rope coming out of it we knew the ball couldn’t roll. But it moved. Not just once, but a few times. The second time it actually rocked back and forth for several seconds. It was amazing to see. I had my recorder turned off already since we were leaving the area. I’m not sure if anyone had a camera on and pointing in that direction at the time.

On the first floor and third floor attic we had some K-II activity, disembodied voices as well as interesting Ovilus responses.

Once again, the Allegan Lodge proved to be very active.

Michael Wright: We arrived in the afternoon at the lodge to set up for the evening’s investigation; we were given a demonstration of a Shadow detection device by Dale.

That evening when we came back to do the investigation we headed in the basement for a 55 minute EVP session. There were a few noises and temperature fluctuations but did not detect any EVPs on my recorder.

In the session in the attic there were a few EMF spikes but not much else.

In the ballroom we heard some strange noises and I picked up some very faint inaudible whispers on the recorder. Some members of the team placed a ball in the center of the room which appeared to move slightly.

The only thing mentionable in our session in the front room was that there were a few noises that came from the Ovilus.
All in all it was a fairly quiet evening at the lodge.

Katherine Meagher: We arrived early afternoon to set up for the evening investigation. Dale introduced us to a shadow detector with an IR Illuminator. Dale has some of the best electronics for ghost hunting.

Upon the start of the investigation we were introduced to the history and events that occur in the building. I was equipped with my recorder and camera and was off to EVP sessions through the night. Even though I had no personal feelings about the building. I got multiple EVP through the building. The whispers were so quiet they lead me to believe there are things existing in the building.

Using an Apple computer I can hear audio better than using a PC. I will still send the evidence through even though most will not hear it.

Marge Sucha:

GRS members present:

Dale Kaczmarek , Stan Suho, Mike Wright, Kat Meagher, Sandy Weber, Kathie Para & Marge Sucha

We were joined by Debbie Ready

The Lodge was originally built as the John Robinson Hospital . In later years it became the Allegan Elks Lodge.

Basement

We went downstairs and did our first EVP session of the night.

About 10 minutes into our session one of the members began to feel cold.

Several investigators heard voices to questions.

Debbie smelled smoke and asked where can she get some cheap tobacco. The Ovilus responded "Do you want a smoke"

2nd Floor

We think this was the hospital ward. Later after the Elks took it over it was used for conferences and ballroom. Here we heard several taps. Several investigators heard voices and Dale heard a cough. None of these were coming from any of us. Heard someone walking on the main floor when we were all accounted for on the 2nd floor. Several times we heard noises coming from the 2nd floor kitchen. A ball did move slightly after Debbie placed the ball on some tape that was on the floor. Dale heard a creepy voice.

3rd Floor

This floor was believed to be private rooms in the hospital. I believe the Elks used it for storage. It was pretty quiet here. Debbie asked “Do you like visitors here?" There was a slight muffle after the question was asked.

1st floor/

We were in the first room on the left after you enter the building.

It was quiet in here.

Dale Kaczmarek: I heard several disembodied voices and screams throughout the evening’s investigation there at the Lodge. Perhaps these are still patients trapped her that don’t realize that they have passed over? Using the EVP Field Processor in the Ballroom, I was able, in Real Time, to hear a faint cough and a voice that would have been almost impossible to hear without the device.

We did pick up a Class A EVP saying, “Here I am” in the basement where the old morgue used to be and an area that was very active during previous investigations of the building. The attic area unfortunately wasn’t very active at all.

Evidence collected:

Asshole Allegan lodge.MPG – during an Ovilus X session on the main floor in a small room to the left of the entrance, the Ovilus suddenly says, “Asshole.”

Basement not here Allegan lodge.MPG – during an Ovilus X session in the basement, a question was asked, “Are there any patients still down here?” The Ovilus responds with what we later determined sounds like, “Not here.”

Basement voice Allegan lodge.MPG – during an EVP in the basement a question was asked, “Does somebody need help? Does the woman still need help?” An audible disembodied voice is heard and recorded in the background.

Cough Allegan lodge.MPG – during an EVP session and while using the EVP Field Processor, I heard what sounded like a distinct cough in the background.

Did you have surgery here Allegan lodge.MPG – during an EVP session, a question was asked, “Did you have surgery here?” A faint whisper is heard apparently saying, “No.”

Do you wanna smoke it Allegan lodge.MPG – during a Ghost Box session in the basement, a question was asked, “Can you tell us what this room was used for at one time down here?” The Ghost Box responds with, “Do you wanna smoke it?”

Female moan Allegan lodge.MPG – during some conversation between researchers, a female moan is heard amongst them.

First floor hi Allegan lodge.MPG – during an Ovilus X session on the main floor in a small room to the left of the entrance, a question was asked, “Can you say hello to us? Hi.” The Ovilus responds with, “Hi.”

Gasp Allegan lodge.MPG – during an EVP session on the main floor in a small room to the left of the entrance, a raspy gasp is heard in the background.

Here I am Allegan lodge.MPG – during an EVP session in the basement, a question was asked, and “Can you walk around and make our lights go off?” In the background, a whispery voice is heard to say, “Here I am.”

Tobacco smoke Allegan lodge.MPG – during a Ghost Box session in the basement, a question was asked, “Can you tell us what you put into the pipe to smoke?” The Ghost Box responds with, “Tobacco…smoke.”

Us Allegan lodge.MPG – during an Ovilus X session on the main floor in a small room to the left of the entrance, a question was asked, “So someone likes to turn the lights on in here?” The Ovilus responds with, “Us.”

Whisper Allegan lodge.MPG – during an EVP on the main floor in a small room to the left of the entrance, a question was asked, “Is there a nurse here? We need a nurse right away.” A faint whisper is heard in the background.

Conclusions: This was our third time visiting this location and it never seems to fail to produce some form of evidence, mostly EVPs. We did not catch anything visually on still pictures or videos but numerous interesting EVPs were captured and several disembodied voices and screams were heard by me and various team members throughout the evening. However none of our equipment was triggered by anything unseen while we were there, it still was an interesting evening!

This would still be a place to come back to again with more investigators, cameras and equipment to totally saturate the area. There were a few areas, namely where the janitor hung himself outside the backdoor that were never even explored that evening. This place may still yield its many secrets during future investigations.