Ghostly Visitors Lend a Hand on the Night Shift
“During the day, I don’t believe in ghosts. At night, I’m a little more open-minded.” Jim McCann, retired superintendent, recalls a particularly “spooky” project he worked on with Joel Antonacci and Tim Lynch at the Illinois Supreme Court a few years ago.
During the project, O’Shea was working as a subcontractor for Pipco Companies from Peoria. This project required Joel, Jim, and Tim to work the “graveyard” shift to remove ceiling and install new ceiling grid. All three men believed this would be a routine job, but they were wrong - very wrong indeed.
“While we were working, we experienced some ‘paranormal activity,’ as some may call it, Tim said. We had the radio playing, and with certain songs, the volume would mysteriously get louder.”
Joel, Jim, and Tim all agreed that the radio incident was odd but not extraordinary by any means. But as the days grew shorter, and the nights grew longer, more “incidents” occurred that the men couldn’t explain.
“There were several nights where we heard footsteps in the hallways, even though we were the only ‘people’ at the jobsite,” Jim said.
Again, the men rationalized that the footsteps were just the result of a 105-year-old building needing repairs to some creaky floorboards. But the spooky visitors had one more trick up their “sleeves” for the O’Shea team members.
“We were working on the ladders and replacing the ceiling. All of a sudden, the three of us felt a pair of hands touching each of our shoulders. It took us all of three seconds to scurry down the ladders only to be greeted by a shadowy outline on the other side of the closed door,” Joel said.
Looking back, Joel, Tim, and Jim still aren’t sure what they encountered at the Illinois Supreme Court, but they are sure of one thing. “We’re definitely all believers,” Tim said.