If you hear moans or eerie sounds at the Colonial Theater, tour guide says it could be a ghost
Published at
IDAHO FALLS – A woman in a green dress who died years ago allegedly haunts the Colonial Theater in downtown Idaho Falls.
That’s the story from Kathy Nave. It’s one of many tales that are part of her Ghost Walk tour of buildings downtown that many believe to be haunted.
A history book compiled for the Colonial Theater’s centennial in 2019 contains reports from tech crews working at the theater who claim to have heard moaning and eerie sounds. There are also reports of objects moving and lights flickering all by themselves.
“One stage manager tells the story of turning off all the lights, locking up and alarming the building and arriving the next day to see all the mirrored lights in the dressing room lit up,” the account says.
The historical record does not reference a lady in a green dress or any specific ghost sighting.
Brandi Newton, executive director of the Idaho Falls Arts Council, which runs the theater, tells EastIdahoNews.com that no one on her staff has seen anything supernatural, so it’s hard to say whether the building is haunted.
Some may be skeptical, but the stories are creepy enough to prevent most people from trying to prove it wrong.
“I keep waiting to get spooked working here,” Office Manager Chantel Bristol says.
Regardless, Nave says it’s haunted. She hasn’t seen anything either but claims to have heard the ghost of a woman crying on the sofa in the hallway.
“If you sit on the sofa and it’s quiet, you can hear a woman sobbing very softly,” says Nave.
Others have claimed to have heard her as well, she says.
The alleged ghost, according to Nave, is the lady in the green dress. She doesn’t know her name, but says she committed suicide inside the theater more than 60 years ago.
The lady in the green dress
Around 1962, Nave says a man asked a local woman if she wanted to see a movie at what was then the Paramount Theatre. They’d been dating a while and the woman was convinced he was going to propose that night.
She bought a beautiful green dress for the occasion, Nave says, and the man picked her up that night.
“They sat up in the balcony and they were holding hands and he was kissing her,” she says.
During intermission, they went down the stairs and stopped in front of the men’s restroom. He reportedly asked her if she was having a good time. When she said yes, he informed her this was their last date. He was getting married to someone else and wanted to take her out one last time.
Upset, Nave says the woman ran down the hall near the women’s restroom. She sat and cried on the sofa for a bit. Eventually, she went into the bathroom.
“She went to the last stall and there was a wire hanging down from some construction. She wrapped it around her neck, jumped off the toilet and killed herself,” Nave explains.
A search of newspaper archives did not turn up any reports of a woman dying at the Paramount Theatre around that time.
About 10 years ago, Nave says she gave a tour to a media group from all over the country. It was the middle of the afternoon and they took pictures of the theater.
She sent us a screenshot of the image on the camera that took the photo, which is included above. It’s blurry and hard to make out, but the photo is dark as if it’s late at night and has a time stamp of 10:30 p.m.
Nave says the time on the photo is wrong and the photographers had no explanation for its black appearance. It’s also unclear why it’s a screenshot instead of the original photo.
A green figure can be seen in the right-hand corner of the photo. Nave believes it’s the lady in the green dress — the same ghost that allegedly haunts the theater.
“There’s a head and arms and her dress is coming down,” Nave explains. “It’s shaped just like a person.”
RELATED LINKS
HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: Woman shares ghostly encounter in downtown Idaho Falls