Local ghost hunt plan vanishes

[Carol]

Board honors request to nix paranormal testing

By Rachel Gallegos
Iowa City Press-Citizen

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors decided Wednesday against allowing paranormal testing at the county poor farm.

The board "didn't necessarily see any problem" with having the Carroll Area Paranormal Team visit for a night to do a free scientific investigation of the Johnson County Poor Farm and asylum site, board chairman Rod Sullivan said Wednesday.

But after giving the initial OK and asking the county attorney's office to come up with a written agreement and liability release, the supervisors began to receive negative feedback.

Sullivan said he received "several fairly strongly worded e-mails urging us not to do this."

Supervisors also received an e-mail from the Chatham Oaks Board of Directors asking the county not to move forward. The County Poor Farm became the county home and now is the location of Chatham Oaks, a private residential care facility for the mentally ill.

Supervisor Terrence Neuzil said he initially supported the idea because the Johnson County Historical Society was comfortable with the team coming, the Chatham Oaks director was fine with it, there would have been county staff oversight and the county attorney's office would work on the liability issues.

However, the board agreed to drop the idea to respect the wishes of the Chatham Oaks board.

"I think the rules have changed a bit because Chatham Oaks stepped up," Neuzil said. "Obviously, the cards have changed a bit."

Supervisor Pat Harney said he was skeptical from the start.

"You're building an issue where there really isn't one," he said.

Harney and members of the Johnson County Historical Society said they've never heard of paranormal activity at the 153-year-old site, but Brandon Cochran, museum operations assistant for the Johnson County Historical Society, said people who are on tours ask if there are ghosts.

Supervisor Larry Meyers said he was surprised at the reaction to the idea, with a story about the possible paranormal investigation appearing in newspapers nationwide.

"It's kind of taken on a life of its own," Meyers said.

Shaner Magalh?es, Johnson County Historical Society executive director, said the historical society had no official stance on having the paranormal team come but simply was passing along the request from the Carroll Area Paranormal Team.

The group asked to stay for one night to do a scientific study of the area to determine if there is paranormal activity on the land, using equipment such as thermal imaging cameras and voice recording systems.

Magalh?es said although there were some negative comments, "all in all we've had an incredible response" with people from outside of the state saying they are interested in visiting the poor farm and asylum site.

"We could have put out a thousand news releases about the poor farm and not created this reaction," he said.

http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs. ... 00340/1079

[Carol]

Another article regarding this topic

Ghost Hunt Canceled at Former Asylum


IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) ? The Johnson County Board of Supervisors has changed its mind about allowing a paranormal team to look for ghosts at a one-time mental asylum.

Board members last month approved an investigation of the buildings, but decided to vote it down in response to negative feedback, said Board Chairman Rod Sullivan.

He said the board initially did not oppose a request from the Johnson County Historical Society to have a paranormal team conduct a free investigation at the site, which is now a private residential care facility for the mentally ill called Chatham Oaks.

Chatham Oaks officials were among those opposed.

"I think the rules have changed a bit because Chatham Oaks stepped up," said board member Terrence Neuzil. "Obviously, the cards have changed a bit."

Historical society officials said the controversy began in March when they passed along a request from the Carroll Area Paranormal Team to do a scientific study of the site. The team planned to spend one night at the site to look for paranormal activity, using equipment such as thermal imaging cameras and voice recording systems.

Brandon Cochran, museum operations assistant for the historical society, said one of the most common questions from people touring the 153-year-old poor farm is whether it's haunted. Cochran said he had hoped the study would end all the speculation.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jVD7 ... QD8VUSR8G0