One early morning while Caesar Escobar was working in the Rockyview Hotel restaurant kitchen, a woman called his name.
He stopped abruptly to respond - it must have been his female coworker, he thought to himself.
But after checking the area and the hallway he found himself completely alone. That was the first time Escobar believed in the ghosts many of his coworkers have said haunt the facility.
Another employee experienced a visual apparition in the dry storage area, owner JJ Ludwig explained.
“When I tried to pull up security footage to show him he wasn’t correct, the cameras went black from the moment he saw the ‘ghost’ for seven and a half minutes. Afterwards the cameras come back on and you see him looking terrified. Very unexplained,” said Ludwig, who said she mostly has a hard time believing in any spiritual activity.
It has long been known that the hotel may have paranormal visitors, but on April 27, a paranormal medium will be brought in for round two of her public investigation. The event is sold out.
“As any small town hotel, most of them have seen drug activity and deaths and that sort of thing because people go to hotels for those types of behaviours so there is enough to warrant that there could be something going on there,” said Bonnie Milner, administrator and investigator with Ghost Hunt Alberta.
So far Milner has confirmed the spirit of a deceased 30-year-old male lingering in the hotel as well as a women, who is known among staff to haunt Room 4.
The hunt is all in good fun, but Milner points out that it brings up a very real problem – the closure of numerous rural Alberta historic sites and the dissipation of the town that follows.
“I grew up here, I’ve been an Albertan my entire life and I’m watching small towns just die. These old buildings just get abandoned, and I know that paranormal tourism can bring in people and bring in dollars in a few communities and maybe save some of these old buildings.”
What started as a part time gig has now become her main job and passion – her team runs an investigation event every weekend nearly all year long throughout Alberta.
“We’re hoping that some of this will tie back to historical people and things that have happened in the area. Again it’ll just add to the history of the city.”
Though there is no way to prove any of the stories that come up through the paranormal encounters, Larry Want, a member of Cochrane Historical and Archival Preservation Society (CHAPS) said remaining connected to a town’s history preserves a town.
“The study of history connects things through time and it gives people an emotional link to the past – it gives a person meaning, purpose and a sense of values. Studying the history of Cochrane and it’s people helps shape us who we are today and it gives us the opportunity to see how daily life has changed over the years,” Want said.
“I believe when Cochranites learn about Cochrane’s history it gives them a sense of belonging, “a pride in place”, a civic consciousness...We should feel proud of our town’s history.”
