The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the tour begins at 7 p.m.; running time is about two hours.
“Once they come in, we’ll meet on the first floor and the staff will share the history of the building,” said Charles Spicer, CEO of TriOPS.
According to a history on the tavern’s website, the building dates back to the late 1800s. Ryan’s Tavern opened in 2006.
“Then we’ll move upstairs where I will be giving a presentation. ... After they view the presentation, we’ll split into three groups. People can bring their own recorders and digital cameras,” he said.
Spicer is confident the tour will turn up something, because “every time we’ve been in the place, there’s something unexplained that’s happened,” he said.
For example, “We were on a meeting for this (tour) next to the bar on the second floor. There was an extension cord on the bar that fell on the floor. The bartender has reported that the stems of the wine glasses have just broken off.”
Vicki Ryan, one of the owners of the tavern, has seen enough to convince her that something strange is afoot in the establishment.
“Something had happened to me. I went to paint one Sunday. I thought I heard the toilet flush in the ladies restroom, and I thought I was the only one there,” she said.
On another occasion, Ryan thought she heard water running in the sink. When she asked one of the employees about these mysterious goings-on, Ryan was told, “That’s Elizabeth. She’s our ghost.”
Elizabeth, or some other spirit(s), have also been responsible for such phenomena as chairs moving sideways and backwards and a ball from the pool table dropping onto the ground without being pushed.
All this isn’t really a surprise, considering the Ryan’s property “used to be three different buildings that combined into one. So a whole bunch of businesses and people have been through that building,” Spicer said.
Tour tickets cost $20 and are available at the tavern. The tour is limited to visitors age 16 and older, and teens aged 16 and 17 must be accompanied by an adult.
For more information, call (513) 737-2200.
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