Unquiet Spirits at Log Haven

[Ghosts] "Incorporeal beings and historic building go together like Osso Buco and Barolo" ... this from the Log Haven staff who recently celebrated its ghosts-in-residence at a fall media dinner.

And it wasn't just a lonely bartender or solo janitor who told of ghostly tales. All of upper management--from owner Margo Provost to GM Ian Campbell to chef Kevin Donovan--testified to having seen inexplicable sights and hearing mysterious rumblings, even confessing that they sense someone is watching them. Campbell and Donovan both have seen a man dressed in chef's attire who was there one moment and gone the next.

Provost insists the ghosts are friendly, speculating they might linger from the era of the original L. F. Rains family who founded Log Haven. Provost went so far as to invite a medium to attend the dinner, a woman who could talk with the disembodied spirits, but the rumor had it the medium broke her leg on the day of the event. Hmmmm.

All this talk haunted servings of fine wine and seasonal appetizers and entrees as lights twinkled and diners basked in the warm glow of the fireplace in the log-encased dining room.

I would have let it go at that, but in speaking of the event with my editor Holly Mullen, she recalled a more recent night of infamy at Log Haven, a night in 1982 when Michael Patrick Moore, the then-GM of Log Haven under different management, who had overseen construction of the wedding gazebo and a restaurant waterfall, murdered two Log Haven employees, auditer Jordan Rasmussen and laundry delivery driver, Buddy Booth, outside the restaurant.

According to reports in both City Weekly and The Salt Lake Tribune, Moore went to prison to serve two life sentences, barely avoiding the death penalty. While in prison, to the surprise of many, he became a veritable success story and rose as a prison computer programmer. But he suffered a setback when he was suspected of abusing his Web privileges and was placed in a maximum-security cell where he hanged himself in 2000.

It's a fascinating story if you have time to read it.

So, if there truly are unexplained noises at Log Haven, perhaps three restless spirits from the 1980s are chiming in. (Jerre Wroble)