ALAMEDA - The Other Side, a TV show on APTN, recently visited Alameda to explore the local museum for any signs of ghosts or other kinds of paranormal activity.
Jeff Richards and his team spent four days researching and shooting in Alameda in preparation for the new season of The Other Side. In an interview with the Mercury on Thursday, which was not only their last day shooting in Alameda, but also their last day of shooting for the entire eighth season, Richards said that their experience in Alameda was "pretty amazing."
"There's a lot of history here. And the location that we're investigating certainly seems to be the roots of that history, whether it be some of the artifacts or just the sheer amount of people who've moved through the space because it is a former medical centre. It's a former hospital. It ran as a hospital for several years, and now it's the museum," Richards said.
Len Moncrief, Alameda and District Heritage Museum board chair, said the museum depicts a house the way it would look in the early 1900s. Besides, it carries numerous paintings from local artists and things that people have donated to the collection and that have relevance to the area. The house itself was built in 1908 and is sitting at its original location, but its inhabitants changed many times.
"Several families lived in it over the years. I can't list them all, but it was built originally for a man by the name of G.O. Tice, who lost his home in the 1907 fire in Alameda. Several families have lived in it since that time and the most important people to live in it were Mr. Wellington Wood and his wife, Mary, around the 1930s. They ran a nursing home there, so babies were born there and people that needed palliative care were there and possibly died there," Moncrief shared.
Richards said not only have they picked up a lot of activity in the museum, but they also had a lot of community members sharing their experiences, which made their time at Alameda memorable.
Interacting with the community
"It's amazing to be in there. It's steeped in history. And it seems like every day we have people from the community coming by, saying that they've had experiences in there that are paranormal, or asking us if we've experienced anything, and then comparing stories. So it's been really, really great," Richards said.
Moncrief said that he heard many similar stories, and one person who lived in the house for two years saw a fireball coming down a set of stairs.
The Alameda Museum has never been in TV shows or movies before and usually it doesn't see much traffic. Moncrief said that their visitors are mainly those somehow connected to the building, the community or some artifacts they have on display. The Other Side research team came across the museum when looking for Saskatchewan haunted stories in preparation for the new season.
They reached out to the Town of Alameda last summer.
"It came to us through our producers. They go out and they vet the locations, and then if it holds water and the story seems to be credible, we end up coming out and conducting our investigations here," Richards explained.
Coming to Alameda the crew already knew that the museum carries the type of history and the type of experiences they seek for the show. But what they found exceeded their expectations.
"Over the course of my time with the program, I've been a part of over 214 investigations. And I can honestly say that I've never experienced anything quite like what we experienced in Alameda," Richards said.
Spirit attracted to energy
"It does seem that the building itself at the museum holds some sort of a, I don't want to call it a portal, it's more like a doorway or window through which the spirit does seem to travel, they seem to come through. The logic behind that, and that's sort of my theory, is that when you have a space like this building, which does have a medical office upstairs essentially, it’s where numerous people throughout the town's history passed away, numerous people were born, some recovered from very bad illnesses, or were treated for various conditions. So you have a space that's really like an intersection of life and death. And I believe that that's why it's so active. I think that spirit is attracted to that energy. And I think they come through, and they find the museum is sort of like a home, that they come through in the way that spirit does, and they tend to take up residence there," Richards explained.
He added that the museum is also filled with hundreds of artifacts, which have been touched by people from various walks of life in various parts of the community. These artifacts all carry unique energy and unique attachment, which also results in paranormal activity in the building.
"It is a very active location. It's very haunted. And we've certainly had an incredible time here," Richards said.
While filming for season 8 of The Other Side is now complete, the premiere date has yet to be announced as a lot of work still needs to be done. It's not known where in the season the Alameda Museum episode will be aired.
"The network gets to look at it and the producers get to look at it and then they determine from there where the episodes would be best placed. But I will say this, our premiere dates typically are October, the following year in which we shoot. So my assumption is, given the previous history, that this episode will be airing in October of 2022," Richards said.
The show crew already knows all they've found at different locations they investigated for the season, but until the premiere, they can't share any details.
"We don't have to wait like the rest of the world. And one of the frustrating things is that contractually we're not supposed to talk about the details of the stories till the episodes air. So now I have to just sit on this amazing experience that I've had here and wait to talk about it for about a year. It's hard, it's really hard," Richards said.
The Other Side has taken them all across Canada. When the pandemic hit, it was decided that they would stay closer to home for everyone's safety, so that the crew could travel by land in personal vehicles instead of flying. This new twist to the game allowed them to discover many great locations in their own “backyards."
"This season was really based in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and all of our crew, we all come from those three provinces. So it was really amazing to get to play and work and explore spaces that many of us know, many of us grew up in, many of us literally have been living in these areas and have been in these communities numerous times," Richards said.
This was the crew's first time in Alameda, but previous work saw them exploring sites in Carlyle and Arcola. During this visit, they were staying in Carlyle, but they also spent a great deal of time in Alameda, and both places and people there enriched the experience.
"It's been wonderful. Every place that we go, whether it's a public space, or a restaurant, or a coffee shop, or a grocery store, there are people who are sharing their stories with us who are stopping us and saying, 'Hey, you're at the museum,’ or ‘here's what I experienced.' So there's a real walk that I think this community has. And that's, that's a really nice thing about these types of explorations, when we work, is that we really try and we really put focus and effort into connecting with the community at large, which is amazing,” Richards said.
Moncrief said the visit from The Other Side resulted in a lot of activity within the community as well and hopefully will attract more visitors to the museum, as it does keep a lot of history of the area.
"Everybody wants to know what's going on at the museum," Moncrief said.
Despite the age of the building, the museum that opened in 1990 has been well-maintained. The only thing they need to upgrade is the windows. Moncrief said that the shooting crew provided them with some money, and they hope the show will attract attention and donations, so they eventually will be able to get the job done to keep preserving local history for generations to come.
Richards reminds people that no matter what people believe in, the stories carried by the museum are real.
"The one thing that I would really like for everybody to understand is that these stories and the work that we do, it's very, very real. This is a part of history. This is a part of the local fabric that's been woven. So whether we're talking about spirits or the attempts to communicate with spirits, something that everybody should embrace and just understand that spirit is around us and whether we believe in them or not, they're still there and it's up to us to sometimes have an open mind and reach out," Richards said.
The museum doesn't have regular hours. Anyone willing to check out the collection or see if they can feel anything inside the 110-year-old building can contact Moncrief or other board members to arrange a visit. Admission is by donation.
