HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1905 Prescott theater where a violinist's ghost still plays before the curtain rises
117 E Gurley St, Prescott, AZ 86301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by event. Self-guided lobby visits may be free during business hours; call ahead.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Renovated 1905 building with ADA access. Multi-story Performing Arts Center with elevator.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1905 · National Register of Historic Places · Prescott Civic Arts History · Arizona Territory Performance Venue
The Elks Theatre and Performing Arts Center opened in 1905 as the home of Prescott's Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 330. The classical auditorium at 117 East Gurley Street was designed to host the full range of civic and entertainment programming that a territorial capital required: plays, operas, concerts, political rallies, boxing and wrestling matches, and church services.
In 1910 the venue transitioned primarily to motion pictures, which it screened for more than seven decades. Sound technology arrived in 1929, and the building's character gradually shifted from live-performance hall to neighborhood movie house. It closed as a cinema in 1983. The Arizona Community Foundation assumed control in the early 1980s, and after years of intermittent use and fundraising efforts, a major $1.75 million renovation was completed in 2010. A second restoration phase, covering the three-story lodge building, finished in December 2016.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 14, 1978, under reference number 78003226. Today it operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) performing arts center with a historic theater on the first floor and dance studios and event spaces in the renovated upper floors.
Sources
Starting in 1912, a Russian immigrant violinist named Professor Stanislaus Scherzel provided live musical accompaniment before each motion picture screening at the Elks Theatre. By several accounts he struggled with depression and died by suicide at his home on a Sunday afternoon following a dispute with his wife. He left no documented note.
The paranormal reports associated with Scherzel center on sound rather than sight. Cleaning staff working after closing have described hearing violin music coming from the empty stage and auditorium — music with no identifiable source. A theater manager also reported hearing faint operatic voices while alone in the building.
Visual reports add a second strand. An usher described seeing a man in period clothing seated in one of the restored box-seat alcoves; when she looked again, the seat was empty. Staff have also described apparitions elsewhere in the building: a figure in black near the main floor and another in what is described as cowboy attire near the rear. A cleaning staff member reported an entity who gave his name as Robert, though he was called Fillmore by others.
During a restoration in an earlier period, workers discovered human bones within the walls — a detail that has circulated in Prescott ghost tour accounts since. Whether this influenced the building's reputation for persistent reports is a matter of local debate.
Notable Entities
Attend a concert, theatrical production, or community event at the 1905 National Register landmark. The restored historic theatre seats audiences in the same room where a violinist named Professor Scherzel performed before every motion picture from 1912 until his death. Tickets vary by event; check the venue website.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
St. Louis, MO
The Fabulous Fox Theatre opened in January 1929 as one of five 'Fox' picture palaces commissioned by film magnate William Fox. Designed by C. Howard Crane in a 'Siamese Byzantine' style, the 4,500-seat auditorium was the second-largest in the United States at its opening. After decades of decline the theatre closed in 1978 and was restored by the Fox Associates beginning in 1981, reopening in 1982 as the centerpiece of Grand Center.
Prescott, AZ
The Prescott Fine Arts Association theater occupies the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 208 North Marina Street. The Gothic Revival church served the parish from the 1890s until its last services in 1969, when the congregation moved to a new building and the old church was sold and converted into a performing arts center.
Joliet, IL
The Rialto Square Theatre opened May 24, 1926, designed by Chicago firm Rapp & Rapp for the six Rubens brothers. Its Neo-Baroque interior — modeled in part on the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles — earned it a place on the American Institute of Architects's '150 Great Places in Illinois' and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.