Strange Goings-on at the Waterfront Station

First Posted October 3rd, 2013

I recently paid a visit to Swim Recruiting, a career recruiting firm based in the Waterfront Station. Their office space is situated in the east end of the building on the third floor. It’s bright and modern, and they enjoy a glorious view of the cruise ship terminal, the SeaBus station and North Shore Mountains across Vancouver harbour. I have been acquainted with Simon Wood, president of the company, for some time and he kindly gave me permission to speak with a few of the employees who have experienced unusual goings on in the building.

I sat down with Debra, Jen and ‘Employee A’ (who requested anonymity), and we had a lively chat about their ghostly encounters. ‘A’ went first and told me about a scare she had in July of this year. She had arrived at the Swim Recruiting office early one morning, at 7:15 a.m., to be on time for a candidate interview at 8:00 a.m. Being that it was well before usual business hours, she was the only person in the office. And, as it was a lovely summer morning, she had jogged to work. ‘A’ was getting changed into her work clothes in one of the meeting rooms when she was startled by a very loud and intense banging on a back door that leads to a corridor with a service elevator and stairwells. There was also a frantic rattling on the door handle, as if somebody was desperately trying to get into the office. Unsure of what was going on, ‘A’ made her way to the reception area of the office to check things out, but nobody was there. The commotion at the back door had ceased, so she went to her desk in the main section of the office and tried to settle in. No sooner had she sat down when the intense banging and rattling on the back door started up again. Shaken, ‘A’ approached the door and yelled, “Who’s there?” The banging stopped but there was no answer. After a brief hesitation, she dared to open the door. Nobody was there. What made it even more shocking, she said, was that she didn’t hear a thing after opening the door, not even the sound of footsteps of somebody running away down the corridor or on one of the stairwells. ‘A’ explained that she got a general sense of panic from whomever or whatever had been banging on the door. It was as if it was trying to say, “Let me in!”

Jen was next up to share her experience. She told of how one afternoon in July, around the same time as ‘A’ had her frightening encounter, she and ‘A’ were taking an afternoon break together. They had decided to use the service elevator in the back corridor to go downstairs. While waiting for the elevator to arrive, Jen and ‘A’ stood with their backs to a wall across from the elevator door. Without warning, Jen felt someone or something stroke the back of her neck in an upwards motion. Both she and ‘A’ immediately felt the air around them go icy cold.

Then Debra shared with me her story of how, one afternoon in February of this year, she and ‘A’ were taking a washroom break and were standing inside the ladies’ lavatory talking about an emotional issue that ‘A’ was having. As Debra was listening to her, the apparition of an older woman appeared over ‘A’ ’s shoulder. The apparition only appeared from mid-chest upwards, but Debra was able to clearly see that she had fair hair that was wavy and well styled. The woman wore a powder blue blouse and was reaching out in a kind, almost pleading gesture. Debra got the distinct impression that the older lady was trying to help in some way. The woman said, “I’ll come back another time,” and promptly vanished. As Debra was experiencing this, ‘A’ did not see or hear anything.

What’s interesting about these happenings in and around the Swim Recruiting office is that ‘A’ was present on each occasion. She and Debra disclosed to me that each of them has had personal experiences of a paranormal or psychic nature at other times in other places. It seems then, that they are sensitive to the entity or entities haunting the third floor of the Waterfront Station, and ‘A’ might be of particular draw to the phenomena. It’s also worth noting that two of the encounters occurred in the corridor behind the office, near the service elevator and stairwells. It seems that something is lurking there, eager to get attention.

After our sit-down had ended and I was ready to leave, I chatted briefly with another of Swim’s employees, ‘Employee B’, who told me that she has experienced strange sensations in the ladies’ washroom on the third floor. She has occasionally felt cold spots in that space and has felt resistance on the door to the washroom, pushing back against her when she tries to enter. She also shared with me that, a few years ago, a security guard she was pals with at the station took her down to the basement to show her an old painted portrait of a woman who is believed to have worked in the building many years ago. This painting hangs in a locked storage room where Holiday decorations are kept. According to what that security guard told ‘B’, if the portrait is ever removed from the wall, electrical disruptions occur, including power outages throughout the station. The painting has been left hanging in the basement storage room to prevent any further electrical outages from occurring.

Thanks to Simon, Debra, Jen, ‘A’ and ‘B’ of Swim Recruiting for their kind hospitality during my visit and for sharing their experiences with me. They have promised to let me know if anything else unusual occurs in and around their office. If it does, I will be sure to report on it here.