MADISON TOWNSHIP — The sprawling four-story brick building sits quietly on Middle Ridge Road, seemingly unnoticed, surrounded by trees and many well-kept flowers gardens and ornamental shrubs.

The building’s exterior offers up no hint of its rich history or the range of emotions from its occupants, who once called it home. The dated interior hints that time stopped decades ago, as the hallways lead to empty rooms harboring the secrets of its residents during its 160-year history. If the walls could talk, there would be one man willing to listen.

Hearing children playing, women in conversation and footsteps is just one of the claims made by several people who have been inside the Ohio Cottage building. Claims that the building is haunted go back many decades, and it was these stories that drew the interest of Madison resident Jason McCall to ask permission to conduct a paranormal investigation inside the building. McCall has been interested in the paranormal for as long as he can remember.

McCall founded Northeast Ghost Hunters several years ago to research and conduct investigations for those who feel abnormal activities may be taking place in their homes.

“I don’t get scared during investigations,” McCall said. “When I see something, I want to go after it and see what it is.”

While McCall may not be bothered by the haunting tales, others are, and some plainly refuse to talk about the building or their experiences.

Growing up, 17-year-old Thomas Cassell spent a lot of time in and out of the Ohio Cottage building, which was owned by his grandfather John Cassell, who also owns the Cass-Mill Nursery. Thomas remembers when he was younger thinking something wasn’t right with the building, though he could not explain what.

“When you would come into the building, you’d feel kinda strange — like a pressure. You feel like you’re being watched,” Thomas said.

Years later, he would hear the stories about his grandfather’s building, including some from his grandfather.

“He would be working in his office, and he would hear children and groups of people in the building at night,” Cassell said. “One night, it was so loud he thought the building alarm was going to be set off from all the noise.”

Thomas Cassell and his friends continue to spend time in the building, even though they never know what to expect.

“I don’t mind coming into the building. I have seen and heard many strange things, but nothing bad has happened to me,” Thomas said.

Lake County Administrator Ken Gauntner, who had an office in the building when he worked for Madison Township several years ago, said he believes there is some kind of activity going on. Gauntner said that even though he never saw a ghost, he and several other employees did experience several unexplainable things, including hearing footsteps in hallways, doors opening and closing, and the intense feeling of being watched. He said several employees claim to have seen a woman walking in a second-floor hallway or standing at a second-floor window.

He recalls the time Channel 3-Cleveland was reporting and filming there, when cameras stopped working. At the same time, recording devices would record conversations and minutes later play back the conversations to stunned news crews.

As the news anchor stood on the front steps of the Ohio Cottage, Gauntner, who was with the anchor, said she noticed her voice recorder recording their conversation. He said she became frightened and quickly moved away from the area. Within seconds, he said a piece of glass from the upper fan-shaped window blew out and shattered where she had been standing moments before.

“She was really shaken up over that and wanted to leave right then,” he said.

One college student hired for summer work quit in the middle of a job, Gauntner said, after claiming that an angry voice kept telling him to leave.

One group of people who wanted to see for themselves whether the building was haunted, decided to stay overnight in the building. In the middle of the night, Gauntner said the group was overcome by a rotten stench that prompted them to run for fresh air.

“I really believe that there is something paranormal or a group of paranormal things in that building,” he said.

Several police officers also have made claims of strange experiences and of seeing someone in a window. One officer said police dogs brought into the building for training would cower and whine in certain areas and refuse to enter certain rooms.

While many strongly believe something or several things of a paranormal nature exist in the building, there are many who refute those claims.

So why is it that some have had unexplainable experiences in the building and some haven’t?

McCall said that while there is no paranormal book to refer to, theories help to answer questions.

“Not all people are tuned into paranormal activity or seeing ghosts, and not all will hear or see the same thing if something happens in the presence of both parties at the same time,” he said. “The most common theory for some individuals who don’t see spirits, ghosts or an apparition is because they don’t have an open mind to such beliefs, that another dimension exists. Another theory is that some of us don’t possess the ability to see or experience things.”

McCall believes there is truth to the claims made over the years.

“This building dates back to people from the Civil War era and was a prison and an institution for the mentally insane,” McCall said. “You have all that turmoil and all of it within one building, and it’s a perfect catalyst for paranormal activity.”

McCall and his team, which includes his wife, Jenelle, along with Jamie Partington and Jen Thomas, already have conducted three investigations. Two have taken place at night and one in the afternoon.

Investigations usually take place at night for several reasons.

“Most paranormal equipment is made for nighttime use, such as (infrared) cameras and thermal imaging equipment. This type of equipment works for nighttime lighting and is better able to gather manifestations, anomalies and apparitions than just a typical camera during the day,” McCall said. “Secondly, we find night hours to be more active than the day, possibly because it is in a silent environment, unlike during the day when one would hear outside noises such as cars.”

The team went in first during daylight hours with K2 electromagnetic field (EMF) meters, digital cameras and voice recorders, and searched the building for temperature drops. McCall said they wanted to be sure any temperature drops they may record weren’t the result of an air conditioner vent, drafts or any kind of refrigeration.

“The theory behind temperature drops is when these things (apparitions) manifest, they use energy all around it, which results in cold spots,” he said.

The daytime investigation allowed the team to review and photograph specific layouts of the building to give team members an idea of where to set up equipment. As they began to photograph, things turned into a challenge.

“We had all kinds of problems with things not working right,” during their first investigation, McCall said. “Our cameras froze up, and when we took the batteries out and replaced them, the cameras were still stuck on the same frames.”

Once the equipment began to work, more than 800 random photos of hallways and rooms were taken, along with recordings of different areas.

“Every picture I take, I spend time looking at it. If I see something unusual, I zoom in on the photo to rule out things like shadows, dust particles or bugs,” he said.

One photo of a second-floor hallway taken during the day has drawn gasps from those who saw it. In the photo, there appears to be the silhouette of a women holding up a tray, as if carrying it to tend to someone in another room.

“I was taking random photos of this hallway and saw nothing unusual at the time,” McCall said.

Though his team did not register any temperature drops, it did capture other interesting photos and recorded electronic voice phenomena (EVP) of what McCall believes to be a women’s voice.

“One team member was asking questions and after playing back the recording, it sounds like a woman is trying to respond to the questions, but she sounds like she is speaking another language,” McCall said.

The second nighttime investigation again resulted in cameras not working at the same time in certain spots of the building. Once cameras were moved to different location, they began working. Several photos on the upper floors contained orbs that reappeared in different places in each photo. One photograph, taken in the attic, appears to have phallic symbol image.

McCall said digital recorders did pick up a woman’s voice for the second time as she responded to an investigator’s question on whether there were “others” present. McCall said her answer was “yes.”

Thomas’ father, Tim Cassell, who owns Ohio Cottage Inc., said interesting things have been occurring in the building for years and hopes the investigation leads to some answers. While he is comfortable working in the building, he doesn’t discount that something else could be occupying the building.

Problems with the phone system dialing numbers continue, even after the system has been replaced twice.

“I can be sitting there, and the phone will silently dial numbers at random, and all of a sudden I hear a voice on speaker saying “hello,” and then I have to assure this person I didn’t call them and I’m not making prank phone calls,” Tim said.

Other common problems he said are with the lights, which turn on by themselves in different parts of the building, even though the wiring has been checked several times.

Hearing people talking and footsteps is something he said his family experiences frequently, and for the most part, he said they just ignore it.

“We’ve had people come out to check these things repeatedly, and no one can ever find a reason why this keeps happening,” he said.

As for the photo of the woman, he is amazed and said they’ve been trying to figure out what she represents, but not many records were kept on the people who lived there so long ago.

A quiet cemetery not far from the building is the final resting spot for many — mainly women — who lived and died in the building they once called home. The aged headstones are grouped together and identical with the exception of names, birth years and years of death but nothing else.

So does the building consist of a presence from another dimension?

“Evidence of paranormal activity was collected during the three investigations, which included apparitions in photos, EMF readings and EVPs from multiple locations in the building,” McCall said. “I definitely think there is some paranormal activity going on in there, and we’re going to continue investigating the building to find out what exactly is going on in there.”

If you have any paranormal questions or would like an investigation conducted, you can contact McCall at paranormal31@yahoo.com. You can also visit his Web site (www.northeastghosthunters.com).