Is The Beacon Hotel Haunted? Investigation Teams Look Into Ghosts

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Is The Beacon Hotel Haunted? Investigation Teams Look Into Ghosts
February 21, 2010
By: Carly Noel
WPXI.com

RENFREW, Pa. -- The owners of The Beacon Hotel in Renfrew, Butler County, along with customers and employees, believe the once hotel and now restaurant is haunted.

Two teams, the Baelfire Paranormal Investigation team and the Butler Paranormal Investigation Research Society, were there on Saturday to get to the bottom of what they call paranormal activity. I like to call it dining and working with ghosts.

Despite being scared of ghosts and anything haunted, I dropped by the restaurant while the teams conducted their investigation.

“We are looking into three or four entities here,” said Tim Roxbury, founder and director of the Butler Paranormal Investigation Research Society.

Investigators believe one of the entities could be the original owner Tom Krelow AKA “Pops.” In 1976, Tom suffered a heart attack behind the bar, in the building he built from scratch. Tom’s grandson Greg and his wife Debra Krelow now run the restaurant.

A picture of Tom hangs over the bar where he died. The Krelow family says more than just a picture of him is present.

“Sometimes, you just feel things,” said Debra.

“I’ve felt cold chills,” said Nicklas Krelow, Greg and Debra’s son who does prep work and cooks at the restaurant.

“We’ve had mirrors come off of walls,” said Greg.

“Sometimes, it gets a little creepy,” said Chandler Krelow, Greg and Debra’s daughter.

Some people have reported seeing Tom in the dining room. There are also reports of televisions and water faucets turning on and off on their own. The Krelow family also told me that an employee saw plates fly off of a counter, and then a couple days later, they caught her stealing.

“People who have stolen from us experience the most stuff,” said Nicklas.

The investigators set up 12 infrared cameras throughout the building and ran them for eight hours each on Saturday. They also set up a computer system to track Electronic Voice Phenomenon, electronically generated noises. Common sources of EVPs are static and background noises.

"We try to prove or disprove the reports," said John Lewis, founder and director of the Baelfire Paranormal Investigation team.

The investigators focused a lot of their attention inside the old hotel and downstairs in the basement where The Hotel Beacon hosts a haunted house every October. Could the haunted house actually be haunted?

You would think reports of ghosts would be bad for business, but Debra says it’s actually an attraction.

“They love it. If a door swings open, they say, ‘Oh, it’s ‘Pops’ again,’” said owner Debra.

Customer of 15 years Jamie Weaver said he has experience paranormal activity that has made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, including hearing children’s nursery rhymes in an empty room and seeing a tiara appear out of nowhere. Jamie said he’s not afraid and will remain a loyal customer.

The paranormal teams plan to do a second investigation in March and then draw their conclusions. My guess is they’ll probably prove there are ghosts inside The Beacon Hotel. “I have the ability to sense spirits. They know we are here right now,” said Tim.

I asked Tim, who investigates all sorts of paranormal activity, "Why do spirits come back?" He said because they don’t realize they’re dead, they have unfinished business or to look after a property.