Harley Clarke's Ghost Doesn't Want to Share Mansion, Psychic Says

EVANSTON, IL - One of the biggest questions facing the city of Evanston in recent years is what to do with the Harley Clarke Mansion, one of the city’s most historic buildings that sits just footsteps away from Lake Michigan.

The mystery behind the failure to come up with a solution may have been solved, however, by an outside medium.

Known psychic Beatrix J. LaRiske told the Evanston RoundTable that she has connected with Clarke, and that the one-time electric utility executive who fell under hard times during the Great Depression has no interest in sharing the home he now haunts.

"He loves the place," LaRiske said. “Harley came to me full of youthful energy talking about his former home. He’s still there, sliding down bannisters and chasing pigeons off the roof. He really doesn’t want anyone else in there."

Related on Patch: Possibly Creeped Out, Evanston Art Center Moves Out of Harley Clarke Mansion

But the delay in determining a proper use for the Sheridan Road mansion site has come from the City Council’s inaction at the Morton Civic Center on Green Bay Road. If Clarke is at the mansion itself, how does his spirit have any effect on the folks inside Council chambers?

"The phenomenon of psychic transference is definitely at play here," LaRiske explained. "There must be some longstanding connection between Mr. Clarke and the Civic Center building itself.

She claims a “conduit” opened up several years ago, making the transfer of energy from the Harley Clarke mansion to the Civic Center possible.

“The connection remains strong – strong enough that the spirit flits back and forth with ease."

More via the Evanston RoundTable