Nonprofit capitalizing on building frozen in time with ghost tours

VERMILION — It sounds like a ready-made urban legend: Eighty years ago the town's Victorian-era opera house shut its doors, leaving its contents intact. The reasons why are lost to history but it was a marvel to its new owners, the Harbourtown Fine Arts Center.But the staff soon realized they weren't the only inhabitants. "There are definitely things going on here. A lot of weird stuff happens in there," said Brittany Drost, program chairwoman and board member of Harbourtown center. Visitors can learn more about the historic building's past and its inhabitants Oct. 24 in a series of "ghost tours." Billed as a combination of history, lore and recent stories, Drost said there will be three levels of tours offered: family-friendly "twilight" tours, slightly darker "lantern" tours, and "ghost light" tours, named for the tradition of stages never allowing a theater to go fully dark, by keeping a continually lit "ghost light" running. The tours offer different levels of access and are priced accordingly. All events will be limited to allow for social distancing guidelines. Drost spearheaded the nonprofit foundation two years ago to save the landmark red brick building across from Victory Park on Main Street. Built in 1883, the building has housed offices for the city and township, a flower shop, and currently is home to a dance studio and a music store and has a ballroom for private events, but up a steep flight of stairs is a treasure frozen in time: the shuttered opera house, with intact stage, coal-fired lights, curtains and seats. And maybe a few workers, too. Drost's dance studio leases space on the first floor and a number of her students have had inexplicable run-ins in the building, particularly in the restrooms. Several people have reported seeing a woman in Victorian-era dress in the building that they call "Victoria," though some people believe her name might be Dawn. Drost thinks she may have been an actress at the theater at one time. "The bathroom is the creepiest. Especially for the high school girls, they feel really uncomfortable in there," she said. "The vanity in there is original, and it would have been her original changing room, where she would've been getting ready for performances. I don't know why she would be stuck here, though, because she didn't die here or anything." Drost has not seen her, but thinks the woman may recognize her as a dance teacher and leave her alone. "She doesn't really mess with me, but I've had younger teachers, maybe who might be seen as competition to her — and I've had one teacher she literally pushed out the door." In June, Drost had friends come in for a "ghost hunt" and wound up with odd voice recordings, electromagnetic field detections and temperature drops. A woman who attended a public event in the building once told her she was a medium and there were spirits in the place. Some people report seeing two young men and a woman, and some sense a boy in the balcony. "My daughters sense the energy of a boy there. If you put a toy up there, it will be moved," Drost said, adding that another former renter in the building often reported finding items moved and then returned, lights and water faucets mysteriously turning on. A back staircase leading from the spooky bathroom upstairs to the stage seems to be particularly active with sounds of stuff moving around on stage and people walking in the opera house. In a corner under the stage, the sound of a man's voice can be heard, low and muffled. She thinks of him as "the caretaker." "There would have been someone down there manning the coal fires to light the electricity on stage, and all the heating was also coal," she said. "Under the stage there are all kinds of fireproof hats and gloves and bib overalls that were just taken off and left there. In a pocket of a pair of jeans we found, there was a tax stamp from a pack of cigarettes from 1940. Where did these people go? Why did they leave all their stuff down there and why didn't they come back? There are still hand-painted set pieces down there." Drost said the tax stamp was saved, with the intention of framing it for guests to see — but it, too, disappeared. Ghost tours will start at 6 p.m. and run every half hour until 7:30 p.m. and cost $10. Twilight tours will be limited to five people per group, and the lights will be on. Lantern tours are 45 minutes long, will be conducted by dimmer light, cost $20 and are limited to groups of eight. There will be two ghost light tours, each lasting an hour and costing $40 for access to the back staircase, under the stage, and will show participants the building's secret tunnels, although there will be no access to the tunnels. Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit to preserve the building. Advance tickets only; reserve tickets by visiting harbourtownfineartscenter.org or calling Jim Capple at (440) 985-0634. An additional date may be added, depending on ticket requests. Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.