New owners of Morecambe '˜haunted' hotel in high spirits

The Park Hotel in Regent Road now has new owners who want to turn it into a community hub – but before then a series of events will take place including a Halloween ghost hunt, a haunted house tour, a history tour and a Christmas market.

Owner Emer Jay Van Gills, who has gone into partnership with Martin Shenton of Regent Park Studios, said: “It’s a fabulous building inside, it’s frozen in time, there are lightning marks on the ceiling of the observatory, beds with the sheets still turned back as if someone has just got out of it, and a library with chairs as if a person is ready to read.

“We have also started lighting the green light in the observatory, which was originally lit to keep ghosts at bay.

“There is a lot of local history involved. “

Jason Lunn, manager at Regent Park Studios, said: “We want to use one of the rooms in the hotel as a function room and we want an a la carte restaurant in there. As part of Regent Park Studios we have Bouncing Back, where we work with disadvantaged kids, and we have just received accreditation to do that for GCSE.

“We also want a music room and we can use different rooms for different classes.

“We want to make it community based and try and get the community involved.

“We also have three films in the pipeline to be filmed in the hotel, and one will be filmed before Christmas.

“We have various UK-based ghosthunting events planned, things are going really well.”

Emer Jay Van Gills said: “We are very much looking forward to inviting the general public to have a look around and share their memories/stories here with us and give us their ideas on what they might like to see happen in the future, we would welcome any suggestions.”

Events planned at The Park Hotel include:

l Halloween ghost hunt on Saturday, October 28 – £40 – book at hauntedevenings.co.uk

l Haunted house tour – date to be announced

l History tour – where members of the public can gain exclusive access to parts of the building unseen by the general public, including secret doorways, vast staircases, cellars with original fittings and servants quarters, library, themed hotel rooms as well as the infamous observatory, complete with visible lightning scars.

Share your thoughts, ideas and suggestions about the restoration on Sunday November 12, 4-6pm £4 per person including light refreshments – to book call 07825 306572.