Haunted Sites
Summoning the spirits…
Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
A 1921 movie palace on Abercorn Street. Ghost City Tours counts it among Savannah's haunted theaters.
- Address
- 32 Abercorn St, Savannah, GA 31401
- Hours
- Check the official website for current hours.
- Admission
- Free (public space).
- Access
- open to public (performing arts venue)
- Website
- lucastheatre.com
The real history
About the place
The Lucas Theatre, at 32 Abercorn Street on Reynolds Square, was built by Arthur Lucas. He was raised in Savannah, opened his first theater there in 1907 and went on to own several dozen theaters across Georgia, including Atlanta's Fox Theatre. It was designed by Claude K. Howell in the Spanish Baroque style and opened on December 26, 1921. It seated about 1,700 under a great dome, and some called it the 'Jewel of Savannah.' In May 1927 it became the first building in Savannah with air conditioning. It stands on the site of the Houstoun-Johnson-Screven House, built around 1784 and home to Savannah's first mayor, John Houstoun, which was demolished in 1920 for the theater.
After World War II the theater declined, and it closed in 1976. According to Ghost City Tours, its last film was The Exorcist. The owners soon moved to demolish it, but preservationists stepped in. Emma and Lee Adler founded a nonprofit to restore it in 1987. In 1997 Clint Eastwood held the wrap party for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil here as a fundraiser, and Kevin Spacey hosted a benefit as well. It reopened on December 1, 2000, with Gone with the Wind.
Today the Savannah College of Art and Design runs it as the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. It is home to the Savannah Philharmonic and hosts the Savannah Film Festival, concerts and classic films. It is open for events, with tickets from the box office.
Local legend
The Ghost Story
Told here as local lore, the way guides, books and visitors tell it. These are legends, not established fact.
Like many grand old movie palaces, the Lucas has its ghosts. Former employees shared their experiences with Savannah author and guide James Caskey for his book Haunted Savannah. They describe shadow figures moving through the building, a film projector heard whirring in a projection booth that no longer holds one, and applause rising from an empty auditorium.
Its best-known legend comes from the Prohibition era. As the story goes, in 1928 gangsters in a passing car opened fire with Tommy guns on the crowd waiting outside the Lucas. The ticket-taker ran for the safety of the entrance and was shot in the back before he reached it. Many people tell this story as fact, and others have long doubted it.
Tips
- Featured on 2 ghost tours; see the links below.
