It started in 1929 as The National Dance Hall, and has evolved into one of the most haunted locations in Western Canada.
The Towne Theatre has been showcasing films for decades, but beyond the big screen there are reels of unexplainable and spooky events.
“Guests have had experiences where they felt kicking on the backs of their seats and there’s no one sitting behind them,” said Rebekah Beck, operations manager.
Staff and guests have also often found seats down, as if someone is sitting in them, yet they are spring loaded.
Someone died watching a movie in early 2000s.
Up the steep stairs to the projection room, strange noises, voices and sightings have haunted staff – particularly former owner Gerry Sellars.
“One evening Gerry had spent the night here,” explained Beck. “Someone woke him up in the middle of the night. This door was locked, that door was locked and he saw a man walk right through the doors.”
If that didn’t spook staff enough, an oversized movie poster needed to be hung above the stairwell to cover up a giant nail in the wall. It’s rumoured that a former staffer used the nail to hang himself.
Ironically, the banner used is from the movie Proof Of Life.
The presence of a little girl is often felt upstairs as well.
In the electrical room, some of the plaster on the wall has been chipped away, revealing another wall. On it there are paintings resembling something that would be in a nursery.
But perhaps the creepiest area of the theatre is below the seats.
The basement is in fact an old tunnel, which used to connect to a cafe next door and the old National Hotel. It was used to bring food back and forth easily.
Now it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
The theatre doesn’t use the basement for much, except storing old seats and touring ghost-hunters.
It’s a maze of hallways and rooms that one could get lost in.
Within the worn concrete walls and dirt are even more unexplainable items and occurrences.
There’s a scythe in one of the many rooms, no one knows how it got there.
But Beck says the minute it goes missing, that’s when she will be scared.
A makeshift wall was created between the theatre and the Italian Kitchen in the tunnel.
Beck doesn’t know how, but it was broken partially down one day when she was down there.
A black charred door sits open between the space next to The Vibe. A fire in 2022 at the boutique nearly claimed the theatre through the adjoining tunnel.
The stories of people being in the basement and hearing or feeling things are endless.
“There’s so much that’s not officially recorded,” said Beck.
Several paranormal investigations have taken place with strong findings of spirits throughout the theatre.
The name Alan is strongly associated with the basement while Mary is related to the auditorium. “We’ve garnered the title of being one of the most haunted locations in Western Canada,” said Beck.
While she doesn’t frighten easily, Beck has had her own share of experiences.
There’s an old projector upstairs, it’s too big to remove and has sat unused for many years with new technology taking over. “The creepiest thing that happened to me is one morning when I came in the old projector had power and we didn’t even know you could turn it on.”
Ghost tours are so popular at the theatre that two evenings of tours have sold out with the showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Oct. 27 and 31.
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