Music from Nowhere: The Haunted St. Cecilia Music Center, Grand Rapids

This is a haunted location that actually seems legitimate. The experiences related by witnesses are not ludicrous or unbelievable, but rational and plausible.

It’s the St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids, located at 24 Ransom Street. It was built in 1893, and over the last 130+ years it has amassed a good number of reported hauntings by credible people.

Before I get to the hauntings, here is a brief background on the center. It is the only building in the country to be built by women for the sole purpose of music. An organization was started by nine women in 1883, based on their love of music; they would perform, teach, and listen in each other’s homes. As their organization grew, they realized they needed a larger place. They raised $53,000 and had the structure built in 1893.

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Aside from the history and architecture, the center is widely known for its hauntings. Many paranormal investigators have entered and experienced the unexplainable. Apparitions, music coming from nowhere, and equipment failures.

One member of the center’s management related the following: “I had one employee tell me that one morning, she used to come in super early, like 5 am, and she heard music upstairs around 6:30. She thought it was strange because it sounded like a full orchestra was rehearsing.....She came upstairs and everything was still dark, including the auditorium. When she turned the lights on, the music stopped.”

For some reason, many employees have had weird things happen with the elevator.

A staff member reported, “Sometimes I’ll get on the elevator and press the floor button, the doors will close and I start going up, and another floor button lights up in front of me. It’s like someone is redirecting. The elevator goes to that floor and the doors open.” This exact same thing has happened to others. When maintenance checks it out, there is nothing wrong. There are times when the elevator door opens, closes, and then reopens like someone is walking through.

Others have seen the image of a janitor behind the auditorium, just lingering and not saying a word. According to The Collegiate, “One of the witnesses went to the manager at the time and said something about their janitor being rude for not acknowledging them. The manager had to inform them that they do not have a janitor on staff.”

There are plenty of other occurrences that staff members will be happy to tell you about when you visit...the ones that aren’t afraid to, that is. Although spirit activity has slowed down over the past few years, the spirits of the original nine ladies from the 1890s are believed to remain and resurface from time to time.