At the Marion Art Center it is not unusual to hear things go bump in the night.

For years, the former Unitarian Church has had its share of inexplicable happenings, but people who frequent the Center have generally made peace with the possibility of a supernatural being in their midst.

“I’ve never been afraid,” said Executive Director Deborah Bokelkamp. “If I have been aware of a spirit it’s always been friendly.”

Bokelkamp, who has spent many evenings alone in the Center said, “I’ve never seen anything or felt anything, but I’ve heard something many times. If I’m upstairs then I’ll hear it downstairs, and if I’m downstairs then I’ll hear it upstairs.”

One explanation for peculiar sounds, she said, is the old heating in the walls. However she admitted, “It doesn’t explain the footsteps.”

Most of the reported activity has been on the second floor in the Pasty Francis Gallery. Every step across the old wood floors lets out a loud creak that can be heard around the building..

Sparklin, a Marion Art Center Player who has been affiliated with the Center for years, said one day a musician working in the sound booth off the gallery heard the creak of footsteps. When looked in the room, there was no one there.

“He turned to go back inside the booth and someone tugged at the bottom of his pants,” said Sparklin. “This is the first time anybody has been touched by whatever it is. He was totally freaked out.”

Another time, a member of the Players saw a figure at the top of the landing. “It didn’t look like a human form. It was something unidentifiable, and then it went away,” reported Sparklin.

Although she did not witness that incident, Sparklin and former executive director Wendy Bidstrup recalled another strange occurrence in the room.

Several years ago the Center hosted an exhibit of Tibetan children’s art, many with images that were emotionally distressing.

“One of the paintings smashed to smithereens,” said Bidstrup. “That never ever happened.”

A total of three pictures inexplicably fell off the wall, something that hasn’t occurred before or since, she said.

The most recent encounter with the unknown happened a few weeks ago when an actor from the Players stopped by the Center to pick something up around 11 p.m.

“The moment he stepped across the threshold, he got a chill that raised every hair on his body,” said Sparklin. Not wanting to identify the person, she said he got what he came for and quickly got back in his car. “He didn’t get rid of that feeling until he was two miles away.”

Sparklin speculates that if there is a ghost, it may be more negative towards men. Others think the spirit is a child’s.

But like Bokelkamp, Sparklin isn’t afraid. “I talk out loud to the ghost or whatever it is to have some sort of contact, to let that entity know I’m not a threat.”