Halloween might only come around once a year, but that doesn’t stop ghostly activity from happening year-round at the Park Town Hotel.
For years, rumours have circulated about this Saskatoon landmark, about the spirt of a young girl who plays piano, and an older man who haunts the swimming pool. Next week, on the eve of Halloween, a team of paranormal investigators will venture inside the hotel and attempt to uncover this and possibly other eerie activity for television.
Angel Entertainment from Saskatoon and Redcloud Studios from Toronto are currently in production on the second season of The Other Side. The 13-part half-hour documentary series follows a team of paranormal investigators who, with the guidance of an Aboriginal Elder, seek the truth behind Canada’s real life hauntings and most unsettled spirits on the Canadian prairies.
The Other Side will investigate the Park Town on October 30. Joining them for the day is a paranormal fan from Saskatoon, who entered a contest on website PostMyGhost and won the opportunity to visit the set and participate in a real-life paranormal investigation.
ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE
Active spirits, sometimes playful, other times angry and violent, have pushed through to our world from beyond. The Other Side is an innovative examination of spirits, fears, and how different beliefs can be brought together to understand them.
Intuitive Jeff Richards, paranormal investigator Bill Connelly, researcher Priscilla Wolf and Aboriginal Elder and Spirit Guide Tom Charles embark on a paranormal expedition to find out why. The team engages the spirits through a mix of technology, intuition, and Aboriginal spirituality and ceremony, all with the hope of restoring balance between our world and the world where spirits walk.
For each investigation, Jeff uses his abilities to initiate contact and reach out to the spirits, Bill attempts to capture evidence of their existence, and Priscilla digs for the story while seeking cultural guidance. The team does their best to answer why the location is suspected of paranormal activity, who the spirit is, and why they’re communicating. They also take steps to best enable the unsettled spirit to move on to the other side.
HAUNTINGS AT THE PARK TOWN HOTEL
Season one saw the team investigate spooky prairie locales like the Western Development Museum, Gladeau House, Regina College Building, and the 102 year-old Bekevar Church.
In season two, the team returns to explore new places, like the Park Town Hotel. A Saskatoon landmark, the property was developed over a number of years. At one time there were several houses in back that were used as rooming houses.
The property is close to the river, and water is a known source of energy for spirits. As well, it has several crawl spaces and shafts that run below the west wing and in a corner that buttresses the pool area, the Cedar Room and the boiler room.
There are numerous spirit activities that revolve around the Cedar Room, which is now an event hall and was at one time a nightclub. In addition, it is believed the spirit of a man who drowned in the pool two decades ago still haunts the place to this day. An employee, who at that time tried to revive him, still works at the hotel.
There are numerous reports of an older man, who may have once owned a home on the property, making his way through the hotel. Other reports cite a little girl, sometimes heard playing the piano in the Cedar Room. There is at least one guest room reportedly haunted, and it sits just above the Cedar Room.
The Other Side team plans to comb through the crawl spaces, investigate the Cedar Room, and spend a night in one of the haunted rooms, all in the hope of contacting some of these spirits to learn who they are and what message they might have for the living. They will also interview one of the owners, and several of the loyal staff – some of whom have worked there nearly 30 years.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
The Other Side II will air on APTN in 2015. Principal photography is currently underway, at locations throughout the prairies. The Other Side II is a co-production between Saskatoon’s Angel Entertainment and Toronto-based RedCloud Studios, with producers Bob Crowe, Wally Start and Jennifer Podemski.
The Other Side II – cast photo (L-R):
Tom Charles
Jeff Richards
Bill Connelly
Priscilla Wolf
