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Guest Appearance: Ghosts of College Avenue Campus with Darcy – ParaGhoul Paranormal: Discoveries from the Dark
In this episode, I sat down on location at College Avenue Campus with Darcy Donovan, who has become the official ghost tour guide of the building through Heritage Regina.
Darcy has been collecting stories from this campus for years, long before the tours became official. We talked about how the tours came back, why they sell out so quickly, and the history that seems to linger in the walls. From a tragic typhoid outbreak in 1920 to World War II legends and unexplained audio failures, this building holds more than just classrooms.
If you’d like to learn more about the tours, check out this awesome trailer that Darcy and his group created!
https://youtu.be/-joHTXT99c4?si=u9yxjWOX9v2tyi9b
Interview Highlights
How did you become the “official” ghost tour guide of College Avenue Campus?
Darcy Donovan: “I used to give unofficial ghost tours for staff back in the day. They were horribly historically inaccurate.”
Darcy Donovan: “Heritage Regina basically voluntold me. They said, you are doing a ghost tour for this.”
Why do you think the ghost tours are so popular right now?
Darcy Donovan: “The pilot project we did last year sold out in 36 hours.”
Darcy Donovan: “We added four total nights this year and it sold out in four hours.”
What happened with the audio in the most haunted room?
Darcy Donovan: “The most haunted part of the building is room 028 in the basement.”
Darcy Donovan: “As soon as I say the tour is over, the audio just cuts out. That’s the only time our equipment ever failed in that fashion.”
What is the tragic history that many of the hauntings trace back to?
Darcy Donovan: “In December of 1920 was when they had an outbreak of typhoid.”
Darcy Donovan: “Seventy-nine people ended up being hospitalized in this building. Eight students and one professor ended up dying in this building.”
What about the stories of World War II soldiers haunting the halls?
Darcy Donovan: “The building was a Royal Canadian Air Force training school from 1940 until 1944.”
Darcy Donovan: “There was a legend of a soldier who fell from the tower. None of those stories are true.”
Darcy Donovan: “It’s a broken telephone story. Over time it morphed.”
What is your favourite story from the tour?
Darcy Donovan: “Probably the story of Roy Percival Renwick.”
Darcy Donovan: “His father arrives with 36 hours to spare and is at his son’s bedside until Christmas morning when he draws his final breath.”
Darcy Donovan: “There’s a shadow in the lower hallway. It’s shy. It’s humble. Could it possibly be him.”
Conclusion
What struck me most about this conversation was how much care Darcy brings to the history. He is not just telling ghost stories. He is tracing records, visiting graves, and questioning the legends that have grown over time.
College Avenue Campus is layered with tragedy, memory, and retold stories. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, it is impossible to ignore how much this building has witnessed.
Do you think ghost stories grow more powerful over time because of what really happened, or because of how we retell them?
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