TOLEDO (WTOL) - There’s no other place in The Old West End that offers more for the local art scene than the Collingwood Art Center. But with that, comes an eerie haunting past.
So many stories have been shared about the art center and the hauntings it possesses.
Pat Tansey with the Collingwood Art Center has endured multiple personal experiences, as he recalls working in the theater alone night. Often, Tansey could not shake the feeling of someone watching him.
Though there was never any evidence of someone being in the dark auditorium with him, every time he was near row N around seat 13, the hairs on the back of his neck would start to stand.
But that’s not the only encounter Tansey had with the supernatural.
While working at the Gerber house, a photographer who was taking pictures of the family showed him something.
The photographer showed him a picture with little white orbs everywhere. Then the photographer told Tansey to pay attention as he spoke into the air and said “go away, go away.” Then he re-rook the picture from the same point with the family, with the same lighting and the orbs were gone.
Many paranormal groups believe there’s activity throughout the building but the most is said to take place in the basement and upstairs in the mansion.
Tansey said upstairs is where the Gerber family would entertain their guests.
And upstairs is where visitors today can see the dinning room with its historic sliding doors which aren’t seen in most house’s today.
That is why those with the theater want to preserve the building; to main the ambiance that is now a rarity.
