The Eastern Arizona Museum is adding a new element to their annual Fright at the Museum haunted house event: guided ghost hunting tours.
Last year, the Eastern Arizona Museum and Historical Society of Graham County, located on Main Street in Pima, operated a haunted house for the first time.
By charging $5 admission, the event raised roughly $5,000 for a roofing project and air conditioning unit.
Now, museum curator, Edres Barney has new projects in mind for the main museum building, which was built in 1916.
“She’s hoping to get enough for lights and electrical in the main building, and possibly put a new air conditioning unit in the main building,” said Clint Woods, historical society board vice-president.
And this year, the museum will have help in raising funds.
The Desert Spirit Seekers contacted the historical society in September offering to help raise funds for needed repairs by conducting paranormal investigative tours during Fright at the Museum, Woods said.
Not only will the seekers take people on guided tours, for $10 per person they’ll get a tutorial on how they conduct investigations and get to use their equipment, said Becki Canaday, lead investigator.
“They’ll have the opportunity to actually investigate with us,” Canaday said.
Canaday has been involved with the ghost investigation team for five years. During that time she has made friends and found that that paranormal investigation is her passion.
“What I want to achieve for myself is hoping to basically show people that not all spirits are bad. Some are just lost, they don’t want to scare you or hurt you. Also I want to get the skeptics to say, well maybe there’s something to this,” Cannady said. “What I also hope to get out of this is to raise as much money as we can for the museum. It’s a win-win.”
Last year the team investigated the museum and encountered a fair amount of paranormal activity, Canaday said. The team saw the tall visage of a man standing in the museum attic, and when asked to take a step toward them he did so before vanishing. She said she is excited to return to the museum in the hopes of finding paranormal activity again. Also she hopes to find more local paranormal investigation sites in Graham and Greenlee counties.
A new A/C unit would be most welcome, Woods said.
During the summertime, volunteers sit in the main museum building which is only cooled by swamp cooler, Woods said. At certain times of the year, the interior of the museum is 90 degrees all day, making volunteering and visiting the museum uncomfortable.