COUNCIL’S BRADENTON RECREATION

By Liz Reed

Council Smith bought the pool hall he had been working in back in 1936,
after it had been in operation for a decade. The Bradenton Recreation Center remained in its old location under Council’s management until 1954. That year, Council moved his business to 536 12th Street West in downtown Bradenton, the location where it became a legend. It was right across the street from the Manatee County Courthouse, and it was frequented by judges, lawyers, and police officials. It was also known as a hub of prostitution and gambling.

Council Smith passed away in 1977, and his son Lawton took over the business. In honor of his father, Lawton renamed it Council’s Bradenton Recreation. In 2016, Lawton decided it was time to retire and sell the business. It was purchased by Kimberly Wagner and Sandi Duffy, owners of the Toasted Mango Cafe, with locations in downtown Sarasota and Siesta Key. They kept up Council’s winning formula of pool, burgers, chili dogs, and beer.

From the time they took over, the two women felt uneasy in the building. They always had the feeling they were being watched. On occasion, they would even catch sight of a mysterious man standing by the pool tables, only for him to vanish a moment later. They arranged for us to conduct an investigation, and it turned out to be one of our most interesting!

There were four of us on the team: my husband and I, another female investigator, and another male investigator who was also our tech guy. We brought along video equipment, K2 meters that detect the appearance of electromagnetic fields, and a voice box that allows a spirit to manipulate radio waves to communicate. The second male investigator decided to shoot some pool to see if that would attract some attention. Almost immediately it did; a female spirit spoke through the voice box, trying to pick him up.

A little while later, the second female investigator also tried to get some attention by playing pool, and it worked. She was suddenly surrounded by very cold air that caused her to shiver. She walked over to me, and it felt like that cold air went right through me. It was a wild experience, but the night wasn’t over.

The two of us pretended to be prostitutes, strutting around the pool hall offering our services to the patrons. Multiple spirits started trying to speak through the voice box, and our K2 meters were lighting up in response to our offers. One spirit especially liked it when I said, “Come here, big boy, and buy us a drink.” Our K2 meters lit up solid red and stayed there. Red is the highest level the meters go to, and for them to stay on red for an extended time is very unusual. Apparently the spirit was very enthusiastic about buying us drinks.

My husband had a much less amusing experience. He began having serious trouble breathing, as though something was trying to take his breath away. This was not at all a common experience for him. We decided to take a break and went outside, and his breathing went back to normal immediately. Our tech guy stayed inside, in order to pan the empty hall with the video camera. The next morning he sent me a video clip and called me to make sure I took a look at it.

The footage he caught was amazing! It’s not every day that you manage to capture a full-body apparition walking across a pool hall, and then bending over a table as if to play pool. He could also be heard saying, “hey hey,” as if he were hoping someone would come over to join the game.

The day we planned to reveal all the evidence we collected to Kimberly and Sandi, I got a call from ABC 7 Suncoast News. They asked if my team could meet them in a haunted location and tell a ghost story for a feature they were working on: Legends, Folklore, and Haunted Places. I invited the reporter to attend the reveal that evening, and he joined us at Council’s. The reporter asked if we had captured any evidence during our investigation. I told him he could judge that for himself and played the video clip. His was response was surprise, followed by, “Holy s***! You’re going on the news!”

The best part of that experience was seeing our video evidence on the news, followed by the newscasters looking at each other in shock. One said to the other, “Did you see that?” It was very gratifying for our team. Our clients identified the man in the clip as the same spirit they had seen repeatedly. For them, it was vindication. They weren’t going crazy, and there was evidence to support their claim of a haunting.

Kimberly and Sandi listed the restaurant for sale in the summer of 2019. In early 2020, like so many other businesses across the country, Council’s was forced to shut down in the face of the pandemic. It was soon sold, with the understanding that it would remain Council’s and reopen as soon as possible. The new owner even asked if existing staff would be willing to come back.

It was not to be. Without warning, all Council’s signage was removed, and the interior of the old pool hall was gutted right down to the ancient grill that had cooked up so many hamburgers and chili dogs over the decades. As of this writing, the building remains empty.

We have reached out to the new owner, but we haven’t heard anything back. With so many changes to the building, we’d like to conduct another investigation to find if the spirits we had detected are still there, or if they have moved on. Of course, we’re also curious about plans for the future of the location.