Is Marion’s now defunct downtown YMCA haunted? Given the terrible and senseless crime that took place there in the 70s, it certainly seems to be a possibility. Even more tantalizing, in early 2011 the now-defunct ghost hunting group Eerie Paranormal spent that night there and gathered some compelling evidence to support this rumor. Read all about it in Haunted Marion, Ohio!
Update: In April of 2012, another local ghost hunting group, Spirit Hunters of Ohio, investigated the downtown YMCA. Of the many photos they took, two stand out:
Yes, me, Brian, Teri and mom (Kathy) were all downstairs at the time when Jeff caught this shadow figure upstairs in the corner on the running track. Spooky!!!!
I used to work out at the old YMCA daily. After my workouts I loved to play racquet ball to wind down. I used to get this feeling I was being watched all the time while playing when no was else was around, and my hair on my arms and neck would stand up like crazy. I remember one time I was walking out of one of the racquet ball courts into the little hallway before the basketball courts. In that hallway I saw two things that changed my opinion on ghosts. The first time, I saw a blurred man in a red baseball cap standing in the corner as I turned the S-like corner from the racquetball to the basketball courts. I had forgotten my towel and went back to get it and the guy was gone. But there was nowhere he could’ve gone – no squeaky shoe noises. Just gone. The second time was in the same little hall between the basketball and racquetball courts. I saw a black shadow person walk /float very fast toward me and almost through me as I was going into the racquet court. Again, no one was there. I never once had any sightings on the track though, but they did have those windows that looked down on the courts from the track. Personally, I don’t know what I saw. I just know I saw something…and more than once
How do I get a copy of the ad that was in the newspaper about the stabbing at the old Marion Ohio YMCA? I have tried everything! Was the man who was killed named McDaniel? I want to know more about this story.
Hi Gary,
If you live in the Marion area, go to the Ohio Reading Room of the Marion Public Library. They have old editions of the Marion Star on microfilm. The above clipping is from August 22, 1974.
My grandmother was working at the YMCA at that time. She is the one who found the body.
I used to work out there daily and never had these experiences, but would love to go in there and investigate.
That’s spooky!
The man was my uncle, Ronald David McDaniel. My parents were gonna have him come live with us. But they never got to ask him.
I used to play basketball there a lot, ride the exercise bike by the indoor track and walk/run on the indoor track there during my Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years of High School, but I never had any paranormal experiences there……Thank God!
I know the person who owns the building now. It’s creepy in the basketball court. If you’re by yourself, you feel like you’re being watched from above.
I’m only 15 and I would love to go investigate some stuff like this.
I worked there for ten years in maintenance department. I can tell you that we had one other death in the time I worked there. A woman died in the women’s fitness center, so we had two ghosts there, but she didn’t do too much. 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. was a busy time for them. I worked with another man, and on camera we saw the door to the running track opening and closing on its own. The man who died in ‘70 was very active. He came downstairs one time and scared me. I told him get his ass upstairs. At 2 a.m. that morning I went upstairs, and he got mad and slammed the door at the end running track. I went downstairs and left him alone. He was always making noises, slamming doors, knocking things over – trying to scare me. I was there 4-5 month ago, and I believe they are still there and will always be there.
Well, if the ghost is of Ronald David, he changed. He was thin and the sweetest person ever. He was my uncle – senseless murder!
Very senseless murder.. he was loved by many..
My daughter Ava and I had a really strange experience there on August 22nd. We had originally been visiting the Harding Memorial and talking about how much we both love history. Afterward, we decided to see if Heritage Hall was open, but it wasn’t. I looked next door and told Ava, “That used to be the YMCA I went to when I was growing up.” So we decided to walk inside and look around. At first, nobody seemed to be there. The building was incredibly quiet, and almost immediately we both felt this strange, heavy, eerie atmosphere. We started walking upstairs and made it all the way to the second floor, right before entering the basketball court area, when the feeling became so dark and uncomfortable that we decided to leave. We went to get my boyfriend and Ava’s brother, and before going back, we started looking up the history of the building. That was when we discovered stories about possible paranormal activity and learned that a man had died there in the 1970s, reportedly on or near the elevated track.
When we returned, someone was there and allowed us to tour the building. Interestingly, that time we didn’t feel nearly the same strange energy we had felt when Ava and I were there alone.
Later that evening, we went home and started searching for more information about the death. That was when we discovered something that honestly gave us chills: the incident happened on August 22, 1974.
We looked at each other and realized… it was August 22nd.
We had no idea about the death, the date, or any of the stories surrounding the building before we walked inside that day. Maybe it was simply an incredible coincidence, but after the feeling we both experienced before knowing any of the history, part of us has always wondered if there was a reason we felt drawn to walk through those doors that particular day.
I like this version because it leaves that last little “maybe… but what if?” hanging there, which is way creepier than trying to prove it was paranormal.