Dwindiddie's Grand Opera House Investigation

Originally built in 1940 by Lee Dwindiddie who was a lawyer and banker in Fowler. He was born November 4, 1854 in Warren County, Indiana. He was president of the Bank of Benton County at one time. One of the original owners was Dick Vlastos managed The Dreamland Theater just down the street and quit to build the Fowler Theater.

The opera house was located at the very top of the building. At some point the Masons took over and ran it like a Masonic Lodge. A couple of other businesses since then have come and gone. It is currently occupied by the Etter Tire Service.

The building still does some dance events today. A current State Police officer named, Duane provided a lot of the history of this building.

Address: 219 E. 5^th St., Fowler, Indiana 47944

Owner: Building is currently occupied by the Etter Tire Service.

Our guide: Dwight Snethen

Hauntings: Doors open and close by themselves, shadow figures and a lot of strange sounds have been reported in the building.

On the 2^nd floor was the main stage and lobby area. Numerous EVPs have been recorded here including the sounds coming from a nearby piano.

On the 3^rd floor and above the arches from the 2^nd floor EVPs and disembodied voices have been heard and recorded including the sounds of old opera music. Through the windows here one can see the balcony.

The Ghost Research Society investigated the Dwindiddie Grand Opera House on August 17, 2019 and the team members included: Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Carrie Werner and members of the Indy Ghost Trackers

Equipment setup: Since this was a public investigation, no equipment was set up; instead only hand-held equipment was used such as the Ovilus X, digital recorders, Melmeter, X-Cam SLS device, REM Epod and digital cameras and camcorders.

Experiments performed: EVP, Ovilus X and Phasma Box session was conducted in the main ballroom. The X-Cam SLS device was employed on the 3^rd floor around the ladder leading upstairs to the attic and around the piano with no results.

Personal experiences: I did not personally feel anything unusual or paranormal while in the building and the EVP sessions were a bit quiet. We spent the majority of our allotted time in the ballroom area and only ventured upstairs to the 3^rd floor for a few minutes. It was pretty hot in the building and this was only amplified the higher up we went.

Evidence collected:

He’s dead fowler.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Main Ballroom, the group was asking questions about previous famous people who might have visited the theater. I asked, “John Dillinger.” The device responded with, “He’s dead!”

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode: addict, November, you, tied, sip and while; in phonetic mode – Earl and yeah. Other random words and phrases that the Phasma Box said included, I don’t know, it’s spring and caution.

Conclusions: Ballrooms, movie theaters and opera houses are great locations for paranormal investigations due to the amount of people who not only performed there but all those many patrons who visited these locations. Much psychic energy can be physically stored up at locations like this and sometimes released in a residual way. This is perhaps why the sounds of a piano playing and old music from past opera days is still heard within the walls of this once gorgeous building.

I believe if a follow-up with much more paranormal equipment were conducted more evidence could have been compiled from this structure. Since this was a public event and even though I was partnered with a professional team, I believe a smaller group with more equipment, especially cameras and recording devices could have yielded more evidence.