Library becomes focus of Ghost Hunters, Investigations Options

[Ghost-Mysteries]

The findings of the Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters team on the investigation at Clapp Memorial Library will be revealed tomorrow night when the Ghost Hunters season opener is shown at 9 p.m. The team brought its equipment to the library in late November after being contacted by the library custodian, Jacques J. Benoit, who says he has seen strange, unexplained happenings at the library for the past nine years. "At first it was disturbing," Benoit said yesterday, describing his experiences over the past decade, working at the library, often alone at night. "It still makes me uneasy at times," Benoit said. He said he has heard loud noises, like the sound of a bookshelf falling over and then checked and found no bookshelves fallen. He also said he has heard quiet noises, like the sound of someone flipping through the pages of a book or shuffling through a magazine, and found nobody there. Benoit said he reported to the Ghost Hunters team that he had seen a woman walking up the stairs, books moving and an elevator running with nobody at the control buttons. Benoit said he found the investigating team, including Western Massachusetts native Steve Gonsalves, to be down-to-earth and nice to work with. The team is from The Atlantic Paranormal Society, based in Warwick, R.I. Library Director Owen D. Maloney, who gave permission for the team to set up in the library with its equipment in November, said there is an excitement building about tomorrow's show. Maloney said part of the interest is due to the building being historic. It was built in 1887 to serve the needs of a few thousand people but has not yet grown with the town population, which is now over 13,000.

Maloney and other town officials are anxiously awaiting word on when state funding for an approved $3.4 million library expansion grant will be coming. The overall project is estimated to cost $10.6 million and would require $2.5 million in private donations and Town Meeting approval to borrow money for the town government share of the cost, which would be somewhere around $5 million.

View: Full Article | Source: Mass Live