You are here: Real Ghost Stories :: Haunted Places :: Gym Renovations Nightmare

Real Ghost Stories

Gym Renovations Nightmare

 

My current girlfriend used to work at a gym in Melbourne, Australia. She had worked there for around 6 months and nothing had ever happened until the gym was doing renovation to make it bigger. The first thing I will mention is that where the gym is located used to be a hospital and psych ward back in the 1800's to early 1900's, this is not bull crap, you could probably look it up.

If you know Melbourne city, then you would also know that there are a lot of underground/below street level shops and malls etc, well the gym also had an underground area but it was not used, it was just empty rooms and hallways as it used to be part of the hospital.

Getting back to my girlfriend, she was part of the manager/sales team, meaning her and the other members of the staff would often stay back quite late after gym hours, usually after 9pm. My girlfriend would tell me how everyone knew that it was an old hospital and psych ward and even the builder's knew as well. Her and her other work mates had sometimes gone into the abandoned areas and often, only going downstairs and past the first couple of rooms before they felt "sick" as my girlfriend put it and have to turn back because they felt uneasy.

I remember my girlfriend explaining this to me while she was working there and I was always saying "you're probably just scared because you know it's a psych ward", then she started telling me that the builder's were asking if her or the other staff had taken their tools as they had gone missing and that this was an ongoing thing between the staff and the builders (the worker's leave most of their tools their overnight as the renovation went for about 3 months). I said to her "the builder's know it's a psych ward, they are probably just playing with you to try and scare you guys", I admit, I probably would've done that if I was one of the builder's.

From here, this is where it gets worse, much worse and I'm actually getting major goosebumps just thinking about what I'm about to type. It was morning when my girlfriend called me from work, about 7am or there abouts and she was crying. I was really worried as she was trying to talk on the phone but her sniffles and crying were blocking out any words she was trying to say, so I just said to her "Do you need me to come pick you up?" She said yes. I left asap and was hoping she wasn't fired, or hoping someone wasn't hurt.

When I arrived I went straight into the reception area but no one was there, I looked around for her but didn't see any staff around or patrons using the gym... I started freaking out really badly. I walked into the gym calling out her name and finally saw her boss (who was also her friend) walking toward me. She told me that they had closed the gym and that the staff were sent home, I found this really strange as this is one of the biggest gyms in Melbourne and they wouldn't close it for something small. I asked her what it was about, and I'll never forget what she said... "I think its best that we leave right now; I have to close the gym."... The way she said it gave me shivers as if something REALLY was wrong.

My immediate reaction was to call my girlfriend... She picked up and said "Where are you?" I told her I was inside her workplace and she freaked out, she told me to "come outside, right now!". As I came outside, I looked around and finally saw my girlfriend about 3 stores down on the corner of the block. I ran over to her as soon as she saw me she just hugged me and cried... I asked her what was going on and she said she'd tell me in the car. We arrived at my car and once we were seated inside she looked at me and said to me, still crying "there's ghost in there"... I found this to be a joke of some sort and laughed and asked her to be serious. She just looked at me and said "no really, there are ghosts in there". I remember starting the car and feeling really weird as I have never really believed in ghosts, as much as I'd like to. Once we were moving she started to calm down and wasn't crying anymore, she continued to tell me about what happened.

What she told me was that, she arrived for work (early) as always and her and her boss were the only ones there, besides the builders. A builder came upstairs and asked them if they had access to the security camera footage as his bucket of tools had been moved to one of the rooms further into the downstairs area and that he had left it in view of the CCTV camera and was hoping to see who the trickster was. My girlfriend said that they went into the security camera office and started looking through the footage of the camera (Here I am getting shivers again typing this). The bucket that the builder had left was pretty much in full view of the camera and she said that it moved on its own. Literally was pushed a few meters out of the view of the camera. The builder made a big fuss and freaked out and went and got the other builder's to pack their stuff and leave.

I did believe my girlfriend there and then but also wanted to see the proof for myself. My girlfriend didn't go back to the gym for about 2 weeks, and the renovations were never finished to my knowledge, at least not while my girlfriend was working there. The weird thing was, whether you believe this story or not, is that the CCTV footage was taken, and no, not by ghosts but by actual people who supposedly worked for the government and as far as I know, what happened at the gym never got out to anyone except for the people who were there.

Has anyone else had any people or government involved in any proof or documents of sightings?

Hauntings with similar titles

Find ghost hunters and paranormal investigators from Australia

Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, l_melbguy, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Casper_the_ghost (9 stories) (180 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-02-03)
This story is probably one of my favourites, I couldn't wait to hear what was wrong with your girlfriend. It was simple yet powerfully frightening-Thank's for sharing.
moravian (1 stories) (171 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-02-24)
I've had crap levitate and move by ghosts in front of me and while it is unsettling and whacked, no need to fall to pieces over it.
signup (31 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-08-11)
I think its best that the government hides much from us.
Because if all humans knew what would really be going on, there would be mass hysteria, I'd think.
pipsta (12 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-15)
Having formally worked for the Military, I can state that, yes, there are things we see that the government wants to keep under wraps. In an old army barracks (1800s) still in use today (cant name which one, I'll get a visit from ASIO), there is a large section which is shut by locked AND welded iron gates with security cameras and motion sensors. We were on guard for the always locked camera recording room, men from an unnamed organisation with an Officer from the Army accessed the room, and exited soon after, briefcases in hand, and left.

Rumors circulated around young privates and NCOs, that the section was haunted by soldiers that had died from disease and injury, as it was an old medical centre.
These rumors still circulate amoungst staff and soldiers who are based there now.

Food for thought.
Georgeisalegend (35 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-13)
I believe in that story, and also I think that the governments do hide things from us citizens.
l_melbguy (1 stories) (4 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-12)
It was in Melbourne CBD, very close to Bourke Street.

That's really creepy and disturbing about people climbing into the walls and roof and dying there.

Thanks for the comment:)
yogoagogo (1 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-12)
eer those psych wards are creepy... My mum worked in some old psych wards (not that long ago haha), and when they tore down one of those buildings they found that some people had crawled into the roof/walls and died... Not a nice place especially since they didn't have drugs back then to keep the peace. Where abouts in melbourne was it?
vulcan10 (5 stories) (332 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-09)
The government taking away footage of a little ghost happenings? It isn't roswell or watergate tapes. That just sounds a little hinky.
l_melbguy (1 stories) (4 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-09)
I am not sure as to how the 'government' knew about it. All I heard from my girlfriend was that her friend (her boss who still works at the gym) said that some men came in and flashed some badges saying that they needed to take away the recordings.

From what I heard, the builder's tool bucket wasn't the only thing caught on tape. There was much more as the camera's were active during the entire renovation. It makes me shiver to think about it, but also really excited to imagine what was caught on camera.
DARKNESS (3 stories) (2022 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-09)
l_melbguy What a good story I think I know the area you are talking about very freaky indeed. As zzsgranny mentioned the renovations could have stirred up more activity, very weird about our government wanting the footage how did they get hold of the tape to begin with or how did they know about it?

Thank you for sharing.

Dan
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
 
14 years ago (2010-04-08)
Melbguy: There is a general consensus that renovations sometimes stir up more than dust 😆...I think that's what happened here...

I don't think our government is so much worried about ghostly happenings as it is ufo's...I have never heard of the US men in black taking any footage of apparitions, but they will confiscate video of ufo's and the like... I live in Las Vegas, pretty close to area 51...I've made the trip there and it's a really creepy experience!...

It's interesting that other stores experience things too... I don't blame your girl one bit for finding a new job!

Good story, thanks for posting... 😊
l_melbguy (1 stories) (4 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-08)
Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I don't have anymore stories as this is the only thing that I have experienced. I also wish to see the footage but the gym no longer has it on record.

My girlfriend no longer works there but her friend who was her boss still does and says that things still happen in that area, I also found out that other stores on that same block have experienced things as a lot of the stores used to be part of the hospital.
Ninja-cHicK (1 stories) (36 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-08)
it was not that scary considering no one saw a ghost or experienced anything in reality not on camera... But it was a good story and I'm sure if I was ther girlfriend or someone working there I would have freaked out too 😐
troyarn (5 stories) (479 posts)
 
14 years ago (2010-04-08)
Very good and creepy story! I'd love to see the footage if it ever became available. Thanks for sending this one in and give us some more if you have them.

To publish a comment or vote, you need to be logged in (use the login form at the top of the page). If you don't have an account, sign up, it's free!

Search this site: