The old Titusville YMCA, now known as The Parkside, is a building with a lot of history.
For decades people have gathered at the building, doing anything from playing sports and dancing at parties to just hanging out by the pool.
Energy created doesn’t dissipate. This was a building where people burned a lot of energy, matter that is potentially still alive.
Brenda Cancilla and Stacey Moronski, lead investigators and co-founders of Kindred Spirits Paranormal Team, will be investigating that energy, and you are invited to see what they find.
On Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29 and 30, Kindred Spirits Paranormal team will be conducting flash light tours and a VIP overnight investigation session at The Parkside.
The 45-minute flashlight tours will run every hour from 7 to 11:30 p.m. It will be a mix of a history and the paranormal.
“You will learn lots of history and things you didn’t know about the building,” said Cancilla.
For the paranormal aspect of the tours, every time the team has been to the building, different spirits have shown themselves.
“I’m not sure who we will run into, but you should come and experience it for yourself, she said.”
Saturday night is when the big guns come out, and the investigation will be in full swing.
“That will be when we really get the equipment out,” said Cancilla.
Pictured are paranormal readings from an SLS camera. Behind the red figure of a person, a darker color can be seen. The darker matter is a spirit, found during an investigation.
Paranormal activity has been found on all three floors of the building, so those who attend should bring a flashlight, and maybe an extra pair of underwear.
“This building is super creepy at night,” said building owner Nathaniel Licht.
Kindred Spirits was started by Cancilla and Moronski in 2019. The two are best friends who do everything together.
One of their favorite things to do together was watch the television show “Ghost Hunters.” After watching the show so many times, the duo got curious.
“We fell in love with the show, and wanted to know if what was on TV was real,” said Moronski.
While they did find out that some of what the show did was “made for TV,” what they have seen through the years proved that the paranormal is real. Since then, the duo and their team have gone all throughout the region investigating paranormal activity and they have stories that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
Of the two, Moronski is the one that the spirits really go for. During one of their two trips to The Parkside, when going back through their recordings, a low and “spirit-like” voice was picked up talking. “Yeah, they called out my name,” said Moronski.
Cancilla has also had her share of experiences. During an investigation of the Fairfield Infirmary, a spirit muttered that he was going to hurt her. Seconds later the dousing rods she was holding came up and smacked her in the head. This is the only time she has really had a negative experience with a spirit.
When the topic of spirits comes up, many people think of demonic haunting. What Kindred Spirits has found has been much different.
Yes, there are some angry spirits, but they really see a wide variety of emotions from the spirits.
“If the person was good in life, they will be good in death. If they were bad in life, they will be a bad spirit,” said Cancilla.
One of those spirits who isn’t the most friendly was found in The Parkside. “The dude on the third floor is not a happy camper,” said Cancilla.
Unlike what you may see in the movies, Kindred Spirits doesn’t do any seances or open portals to the afterlife. What they do is bring equipment with them to see what the eye can’t see.
Licht was somewhat skeptical when they first reached out, but the recordings, videos and evidence they have found has certainly made him a believer.
Some tools that they use during their investigations are SLS cameras that pick up energy and track movements much like a motion censor tracks humans. They have recorders, Mag lights, full spectrum infrared cameras and other gadgets.
“We even come back and try to debunk everything we find,” said Moronski.
The upcoming tours give residents another opportunity to see what Licht has done with the building. Since the last event, much has changed on the inside, although that won’t be the focus of the evenings.
“It’s another chance to see The The Parkside, but in a creepier light,” said Licht.
Before the YMCA was built, there was a fire at the opera house that used to occupy the space. There have been times where the man who donated the land for the YMCA, John Carter, has been heard.
Those who attend may meet this cast of characters that have been unseen at The Parkside for decades. “There is some really weird stuff going on here,” said Cancilla.
Spots on the VIP overnight are filling up fast, and with a limited amount of spots, Licht asks that those interested pre-register on The Parkside Facebook page.
During the flashlight tours on Friday and Saturday, tickets to the VIP session will be given out.
Dvorkin can be reached by email at Gdvorkin@titusvilleherald.com.
