CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — For years there have been unexplained happenings at the Antioch Village Hall.
Village Administrator Jim Keim has been in the building for the last 15 years and told WBBM Newsradio just about everyone who works there has seen something strange.
“Staff will tell you that people will get very creepy feelings walking around this building,” Keim said.
Keim recounted one of his first-hand experiences with the hauntings when he was walking down the hall that leads to the jail cells after hours and was certain no one else was in the building.
“I turned the corner, I looked down the hallway and I saw something,” said Keim. “I thought it was a person and I heard footsteps. So of course, I go to investigate: I run down the hall, I'm calling out, you know, ‘who's there’ and I can't find anybody.”
Another paranormal incident happened during a budget meeting in the village’s finance office.
“Me and the finance director were sitting at a table, going over budgets and out of the corner of my eye, I see a drawer open. It was a file cabinet across the room and a drawer just slid open slowly,” he said.
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The hauntings are believed to be that of a ghost named Ollie who was a caretaker of the Moose Club that later became part of the village hall building.
“We understand he didn't like to leave the building much,” said Keim. “He lived in an apartment above the club and he eventually passed away.”
A self-proclaimed skeptic, Keim doesn’t believe in ghosts, but said there’s definitely something paranormal going on.
The village of Antioch has held talks about hiring ghost hunters, but officials explained it’s not the primary function of the government to monitor ghosts.
In an effort to share other ghost stories and Antioch’s history with the public, the village is hosting a first-ever interactive scavenger hunt.
All month long participants can uncover clues throughout the community, answer trivia questions and win prizes.
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