Group hopes to call again on ghosts

The old St. Joseph’s Hospital may seem like just another creepy building, but according to a ghost hunting group, it may be ground zero for the revitalization of Lorain.

The Tri-C Ghost Hunters held a psychic and paranormal fair May 20 on the premises of the old hospital, at the corner of West 20th Street and Broadway.

According to Greg Feketik, founder of Tri-C Ghost Hunters, it was a resounding success drawing nearly 1,000 people from across the country.

Despite issues with the Lorain Fire Department, the fair raised over $3,300 which was donated to the Genesis House, Blessing House, the Friendship APL and the Salvation Army, Feketik said.

The organization also collected 450 pounds of food for Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, he said.

The cause of such success is the intensity of the spirits which haunted the deserted halls of the old hospital, Feketik said.

“People are really intrigued,” he said.

“The hospital is extremely haunted.”

Feketik said people have seen full body apparitions, shadows of people in the building and heard footsteps, doors slamming and voices at all hours of the day and night.

The hospital was first established in 1892 by the Rev. Joseph L. Bihn and was later expanded in 1905 by the Sisters of St. Frances.

Sadly, the oldest parts of the building were torn down due to safety hazards in 2015, but a 1955 addition still stands today.

Feketik said as part of the May 20 fair, the organization ran a series of tours through what’s left of the facility to investigate paranormal phenomena.

The organization ran several tours during daylight hours, but the Lorain Fire Department stepped in to prevent the nighttime tours, he said.

Lorain fire Chief Matt Homolya said the Department found out about the event when one of the building inspectors saw a sign promoting it.

When the Fire Department investigated the event, they found the organization’s plans posed a safety hazard, Homolya said.

“The problem with (the building) being vacant is, it means all of the safety features in it are no longer operating,” he said. “The sprinkler systems, the alarm systems, the emergency lights; any of the things that aid in evacuation or escape if there were to be a fire, were not in operation.”

Homolya said despite the organization’s precautions of having tour groups being led by individuals, making sure everyone had flashlights and having offduty police officers working security, they could not allow the evening tours to proceed.

“It’s a maze in there; I’d get lost,” he said. “There are varying degrees of safety. There’s areas of broken glass, there are areas with hatches that are hanging that are open in the floor and the building is torn apart.”

Feketik said despite the safety hazards, he thinks the building can become an area of interest to ghost hunters akin to the Mansfield Reformatory.

“My ultimate goal is to turn the Old St. Joseph’s Hospital into a Mansfield Reformatory,” he said.

Feketik said he plans to do this by marketing the building and getting the word out. He said the group already had scheduled several events in the building with the goal of raising $18,000 with a majority of it going to charity.

These events are currently canceled though, due to the issues raised by the Fire Department, Feketik said.

“The safety of our guests is our number one priority,” he said. “Hopefully, we can work something out where we can make it a safe environment for people to come in and do ghost hunts.”

Feketik said the group has celebrity events planned for the site in June and August, a film crew that wants to film there in January and independent documentary filmmakers scheduled to come into the building to film and document an investigation.

Lorain Safety-Service Director Dan Given said the city is open to a supernatural business, so long as the business works with the city to keep its visitors safe.

“We open our arms to any budding entrepreneur who wants to open up a business within the city limits,” Given said.

“If the people searching for spirits in any building located in the city of Lorain, and they’re able to make it a profitable business venture, we wish them luck.”