Construction started on the St. Andrew's jail in 1816 and took 16 years to complete, and opened its cells for the first time in 1832. It was a "hell-hole" in every sense of the concept. It was designed and built specifically to discourage anyone from ever wanting to return there after their release. The idea of rehabilitation wasn't considered, its main goal was to instill fear in any would be repeat customers. Every detail down to the windows was methodically laid out to be as inhumane as possible. 

It is widely considered to be extremely haunted, that the cold granite walls still hold onto the souls that were claimed within those walls, as well as the those who were hung for their crimes on the jail's grounds. 

The historic jail leaves a profound impact on the living that visit. Just the thought of the conditions that the inmates faced while incarcerated at St. Andrews is enough to make the most hardened individuals thankful that they never had to stay here. Though no one accused or convicted of a crime will ever be sent here again, the jail didn't shut its doors for the final time until 1979.

John Moore, OPRI's founder and lead investigator has been granted permission to investigate the St. Andrew's jail in early July. Look for the results of that investigation later this summer. 

In the world of paranormal investigations, very rarely can you "teach and old dog new tricks." For the most part - with the exception of locations - our investigations run a similar pattern, we arrive, meet with the clients, investigate, close up shop, and then head home to review the hours and hours of material we accumulated. 

This past weekend OPRI did in fact experience a first for our group. We were joined by the members of Critical Junction, a local Ottawa podcast the focuses on the science of the unexplained, everything from the anti-vaxxer movement (which no one seems to be able to explain), UFOs and whether we are alone in the universe, all the way to our end of the spectrum... the paranormal and all other things that go bump in the night. 

Having a third party people there to view how we do things not only made for an interesting dynamic but it ensured that we were on top of our game. It was also a lot of fun to interact with people who while not a part of our group, were still integral pieces to our investigation that night. Our fearless leader John Moore had this to say about the experience,

"We had a great night working with the crew from Critical Junction. They showed great professionalism and immersed themselves into what we do in order to get a better understanding of the entire process."

As with anything you experience for the first time, it can often lead towards wanting to try it again - especially when dealing with the paranormal. I know for myself, when I first became part of the team I didn't want to stop until I knew one way or the other whether the dark offered anything to truly be fearful of. Marc Viau seems to be of the same mind,

"While we didn't necessarily find any evidence of something supernatural, it was still a very interesting experience for us. It was great having OPRI on the show, and we hope to do it again some time."

Well Marc, thank you and the rest of your team for joining us for the Macdonell-Williamson House investigation. We look forward to working with you again in the future, and we look forward to sharing what, if anything we found during our night in Hawkesbury.

Happy Haunting
​- OPRI