Come to the Phoenix for Live Jazz, Food…and Ghost Hunting?


Come to the Phoenix for Live Jazz, Food…and Ghost Hunting?
October 6, 2010
By Emily Ghertner
Kansas City Free Press

The next time you are at The Phoenix Jazz Club downtown and ordering some spirits to go with that live music, you might want to be specific about whether or not it is the alcoholic or ghostly kind you're wanting. That’s because last Memorial Day weekend, Phoenix staffers spotted something spooky on one of the security cameras, and proprietor Matt Jones called in the Paranormal Research Investigators (PRI) team to get to the bottom of the mysterious sighting. Was the image in the video footage simply an easily explained, benign photographic glitch, or could it, perhaps, be a specter from bygone days at a spot with a colorful history?

Located at 8th and Central in the heart of what was once Kansas City's bustling Garment District, the Phoenix Jazz Club is one of Kansas City's oldest buildings. Built in 1888, as the Phoenix Hotel, the first floor was a saloon, and the second and third floors comprised the hotel, which was also said to be a brothel. As with many of the old buildings still standing in the Garment District and the ambience they exude, it is not hard to imagine that 1930s Prohibition characters like Tom Pendergast, and other gangsters once trolled these streets, causing trouble, near the River Quay.

As with most of the original thriving businesses in the Garment District, the Phoenix Hotel, too, eventually closed its doors (A wonderful exception is the nearby Hotel Savoy, also built in 1888 and said to be haunted, which still remains open for business). Like its namesake, the Phoenix rose again as a Jazz Club in 1990, closing briefly, and reopening in 2008 under Jones’ leadership. Aside from an occasional oddity- unexplained items being moved around and sounds where there shouldn’t be (i.e. hearing early morning footsteps from the uninhabited floor above the club), there was nothing to really move Jones to action. That is, until 2am, Saturday, May 29th, when a few Phoenix staffers were closing and noticed something strange on the security monitor: A glowing orb and a shadowy figure (gender indeterminate) moving back and forth by the back door. It was definitely not any of the Club’s employees. This incident led Jones to call in the PRI to investigate.

photo

Photo by Joseph Maino

Paranormal Research Investigators, Phoenix Jazz Club Photo manipulation by Joseph Maino

Topeka-based Nick Spantgos is founder, lead-investigator, and lead-researcher of Paranormal Research Investigators, a team that investigates potential paranormal activity in businesses and private residences (which account for 2/3 of the requests the team receives) throughout the Midwest. PRI has conducted investigations at roughly 240 different locations, with about 40-45 of those locations showing actual paranormal activity. Nick and his team are professionals with non-spooky day jobs in fields like pharmacy and nursing, but they all share a passion for and knowledge of the paranormal. PRI’s mission is “To advance the field of paranormal research through systematic, logical, and thorough investigations while maintaining the highest standards of integrity and quality.” And whether you are a skeptic or believer when it comes to ghosts, there is nothing disingenuous about PRI. The group’s motto of “Logic First, Paranormal Last,” means that they look for any and all natural explanations for occurrences, critiquing and debunking, before labeling them as paranormal. The team also never charges for investigations.

Nick and two members of his team conducted their investigation of the Phoenix apparition for several hours after closing time on Sunday night, August 15th. They brought with them an assortment of high tech video, sound, and electromagnetic equipment, including high definition night vision cameras and digital recorders set up throughout the building. On September 27th, Nick returned to the Phoenix to reveal the team’s findings to a small group that had gathered to hear the results. While PRI deemed the initial security camera footage from that night back in May to be inconclusive, the same could not be said for several abnormalities that occurred during the team’s visit in August.

While investigating a small underground crawl space near the Club’s kitchen, Nick saw a silhouette that blocked out the light for an instant and then disappeared- something that Nick says rarely happens, and was crazy even for him. However, what really sent a shiver among the audience was when Nick played audio back from the downstairs office, in which he introduces himself to any spirits that might be present and asks for their name in return. Nick never heard a voice at the time of the recording, but when he played back the audio later, while its lines never spiked, you could definitely make out a voice response from someone else - an Electronic Voice Phenomenon – possibly saying “Come Here” and a name like “Maureen” or “Morgan”. It was safe to say the crowd was a little freaked out.

But Nick will tell you, he’s never had a negative experience with the ghosts he has encountered and he’s careful to be respectful, and to not provoke them. To that end, education is a big part of PRI’s mission. The group feels it’s important to educate people on how to deal with these benevolent otherworldly inhabitants and to not be afraid. PRI is very involved in the community, teaching youth camps and the public about the paranormal and raising money for the preservation of historic buildings. With regards to the Phoenix, the Paranormal Research Investigators concluded that there is, indeed, some paranormal activity going on there, and the team will be back to research the site further and possibly eventually determine the identity of the Phoenix’s phantom(s). Could Maureen/Morgan be a mobster who ran afoul of the wrong person? Someone associated with Frank Valerius, the saloon’s original owner whose name appears in stained glass above the front door? A denizen from the bordello?

Or maybe it’s just a friendly ghost with a penchant for good jazz.