By Diana Poist
Published on October 24, 2007
On Halloween night theater and arts department adjunct Mike Coleman is planning a sleepover. It’s going to be sort of like a backyard camp out complete with sleeping bags, flashlights and favorite snacks. But, instead of sleeping in a tent the campers will be at the Ashmore Fine Arts Center, and instead of telling ghost stories, they will be hoping to see the real thing.
Coleman and his companions will be watching for the Ashmore ghost.
For years the ghost has presented itself, in one manifestation or another, to faculty and staff who occupy the Ashmore building.
In the wee hours of the morning sometime back around 1995, Don Snowden, director of PJC’s theater and arts department, stopped by the Ashmore to drop off his horn. When he entered the building he was surprised to find his office light on, and through the pebbled glass in his door he could make out somebody sitting in his desk chair swinging it back and forth. But, he was even more surprised when he opened the office door.
“There was nobody there,” Snowden said. “Then I felt this draft of very cold air go by me.”
Snowden had just had his first introduction to the Ashmore ghost.
On another occasion Snowden saw the image of a man disappear into a doorway ahead of him in the hall. Snowden investigated and again, “there was nobody there.”
One of the most familiar manifestations of the Ashmore’s spirited entity is the slamming of doors. According to Coleman that was his only visit from the ghost.
Coleman frequently takes advantage of the late night quiet in the building to work on compositions.
“About two in the morning I was in the copy room,” Coleman said. “The door to the main office slammed shut behind me.”
Coleman knew there was nobody else in the building.
“When the security people come in they sound like a percussion section walking down the hallway, he said. “I didn’t hear a thing.”
According to Coleman when he described the incident to one of the custodians she told him, “It just wanted you to know it was here.”
The custodian’s comment is typical of the attitude of most of the building regulars. Most consider the ghost to be part of the ambiance of the building. Office workers offer stories of ghostly figures running up steps and the sound of people talking in the ladies restroom. Night watchmen experience the cold draft of a nearby presence on the auditorium stage, and doors slam in the empty building late at night.
When asked if anybody ever seemed reluctant to come into the Ashmore after hearing about the ghost Snowden said, “No, but it gives them an eerie feeling when I tell them the story.”
According to Snowden two faculty members died in the building during the 1960s, one from a heart attack. Snowden did not know the cause of the other death. Some people believe that one, or both, of these men could be the source of the paranormal activity.
“We think there is more than one,” said Coleman, referring to the ghost.
And, this Halloween Coleman and his fellow ghost hunters hope that one, or all, of the Ashmore’s ghostly guests will join the sleepover and show off some tricks, because these campers would consider that a real treat.