Former Old Broadway Building Haunted? Past Employees Say, "Absolutely!"

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Former Old Broadway Building Haunted? Past Employees Say, "Absolutely!"
5/22/10
KSAX.com

ALEXANDRIA, Minn.- There are many stories out there about strange things that have happened inside the former Old Broadway restaurant in Alexandria.

Past employees like Shannon Chan said she's heard many of them.

"I was one of the last ones upstairs, and one of the cooks actually shut the lights off on me. I don't know if it was just my subconscious taking over, you know, I kind of just go the chills. It just seemed really chilly up there," Chan recalled.

Chan said many of her coworkers talked of unexplainable things happening in the historic building.

"One of the managers was telling me this story. Her and another manager were here late at night. they were doing their work, and they looked up at the security camera. They saw a woman wiping down the bar on the main level," Chan said.

She said no one else was in the restaurant at the time.

"Then she (the manager) looked up at the security camera again, and the person was gone," Chan went on. The managers went to check the bar only to find the doors locked. "That was always the one story that kind of stuck with me."

The building standing now on the 300 block of Broadway Street in Alexandria dates back to the early 20th century. In 1926 it was a funeral home. Before that it was a private residence for many. In the late 1980s it was Bronc's on Broadway, a popular restauarant that transformed into Old Broadway in 1992.

"Old Broadway's been here forever. It has that history," Chan said.

With a history like that, employees don't doubt the possibility of ghosts.

"I don't doubt the existence of things like that," Former bartender Jeff Bergs.

Bergs bartended at Old Broadway for about six years. He doesn't have his own experiences but has heard plenty from others.

"Silverware moving, pots and pans in the kitchen flying off the counter tops," Bergs said.

The ghost of the woman Chan described wiping down the bar has been seen in mirrors upstairs.

"You could see the reflection of the ghost," she said.

The ghost has also reportedly turned lights on and off in the upstairs closet.

"I was always told that was her favorite room," Chan explained.

No one knows who this woman is or was.

"I think it'd be kind of cool if someone could figure out who she is or why she's still here," Chan said.

For now the stories will remain unexplained.

The building is still empty, and it is for sale.