Amateur ghost hunter Tim Martin has ventured into asylums, prisons and a barn used for hangings, but the Groveport Town Hall was out of reach.

 

He came before the Groveport Village Council three times asking to use public spaces for a class on ghost hunting, but council members said they didn't want him to make a mockery of village landmarks such as the Town Hall and the Groveport Cemetery.

However, a week after the last rejection, the village administration decided to give Martin's club, the Ghost Research and Verification Experiment, or GRAVE, a chance. It can use space in the Town Hall -- as long as no one tries to conduct paranormal tests on the building.

"A lot of it was just a misunderstanding," said Linda Haley, the village affairs coordinator. "Council has put a lot of effort into making Town Hall sort of a cultural centerpiece for the community, and they were just afraid someone was not going to respect that."

Martin said he wants to use the class to solicit tips on local ghost problems and to teach other people about his hobby. GRAVE members would show off voice recorders, infrared video cameras and electromagnetic field detectors purported to collect evidence of ghosts.

"It's not so much about getting in there to ghost hunt -- which would be awesome -- it's about teaching," Martin said. "We thought this was something that the community would really like."

GRAVE has called a club meeting for Friday to pick a date for the class early next year.

Martin, a fraud investigator for a bill-payment company, founded GRAVE a little more than a year ago.

They haven't seen any ghosts, Martin said. However, they recorded an "electric voice phenomenon" telling them to get out of Waverly Hills Sanatorium at a ghost hunters event in Kentucky, he said.

GRAVE just started looking for haunting tips a few weeks ago. Martin said the team finally has enough experience to start investigating, debunking and, if necessary, referring a haunting to John Zaffis, a long-time paranormal researcher in Connecticut.

The nine-member club already meets in the Town Hall, but in October, Martin suggested hosting an outreach event. He asked the Village Council if GRAVE could set up a demonstration as part of the annual historical tour of Groveport Cemetery.

The council turned him down. The idea of ghost hunting atop the resting places of Groveport's founding fathers didn't sit well with some council members, Councilwoman Donna Drury said.

Martin came before the council again to clarify that the group planned to be respectful.

"We don't have any psychics in our group, we don't cleanse houses, and we certainly don't want to harass any spirits," he said. "I don't understand the problem. Some members of the council maybe have personal beliefs and don't think paranormal research should be done at all."

After another rejection, Martin asked to use public space in the Town Hall and was told no last week.

Haley said there aren't any restrictions on who can use rooms in the Town Hall, which hosts birthday parties, union meetings and other social events. The village charges an hourly fee for nonresidents to rent the space, or a 25 percent share of registration fees.

Village Attorney Kevin Shannon said he spoke with council members after Martin's last proposal, and they determined it wasn't appropriate to discriminate between craft clubs and spirit stalkers. Renting rooms at the Town Hall is the job of the city staff, he said, not something to be decided by the council.

"As long as he's not using the building as a subject but as a venue," Shannon said, "then there shouldn't be any issues."

egibson@dispatch.com