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8 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
HAUNTED LAWRENCE
THURSDAY,OCTOBER 31,2002
Spirits loose in Lawrence
Suspicion of supernatural at local sites
By Caleb Nothwehr
cnothwehr@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The elevator door closes slowly on the fifth floor of the Eldridge Hotel. Then, without warning, it flies open.
"It only happens on the fifth floor," said Rich Monhollon, front desk clerk at the Eldridge.
The 48-room building at 701 Massachusetts St. stands out as a figurehead for paranormal activity in Lawrence. But it's not alone. Lawrence and the KU campus boast a rich history of supposed supernatural occurrence.
Uninvited guests
At the Eldridge, lights periodically flicker on and off, guests relay stories of noisy walls, and, in room 506, there is rumored to be a gateway to another dimension.
Some workers at the Eldridge try as best
as they can to discount the strange occurrences.
"I always try to pass it off like my mind is playing tricks on me," Monhollon said.
Perhaps the most compelling evidence of possible ghosts in the hotel is a publicity photo taken in the mid 1980s. In the background of the picture, a shadowy silhouette of a person lingers in the elevator shaft. None of the current employees had an explanation for the ghostly figure.
Monhollon said he had heard it was explained as a double exposure, but he said that explanation didn't make sense.
"I've seen double exposures before, and usually it would be present throughout the entire photo," he said.
The majority of strange sightings at the Eldridge have come from those who regularly roam the halls of the building: the housekeeping staff.
Marge O'Neal, director of housekeeping, has worked at the hotel for 14 years and said she had heard several stories of
lights flickering and strange noises in the walls.
But O'Neal said she was not convinced of any supernatural activity until recently.
Earlier this fall, O'Neal went into room 506 to close the curtains in the bedroom. She leaned against the television armoire to do her cleaning. She left the bedroom briefly, and when she returned, all the drawers of the television armoire had been pulled open.
Only weeks ago, while O'Neal was giving interested guests a tour of 506, a coffee pot on the counter moved a few inches without anyone touching it.
"Seeing those drawers and that coffee pot — those events are unexplained," O'Neal said.
Although staff at the Eldridge have had to put up with some unexplained occurrences, most workers agree that the unregistered guests aren't out for blood.
SEE SPIRITS ON PAGE 9
Eric Braem/Kansan
Patrons and staff members of the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St., say there are rumors that ghosts roam the corridors of the 48-room building. One story suggested that room 506 contained a gateway to another dimension.