HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Fort Myers' 1915 vaudeville house—patronized by Edison, Ford, and the Firestones—where performers report footsteps in empty rows and seats that shift position between acts.
2268 Bay St, Fort Myers, FL 33901
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticketed performances; see floridarep.org for current season schedule and pricing
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic downtown theater with proscenium stage; 393 orchestra seats; concession bar in lobby
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1915 · One of Fort Myers' oldest continuously used performance venues · Part of Fort Myers Downtown Commercial Historic District · Patronized by Edison, Ford, Firestone, and Burroughs family · Restored 1991 following 1989 Baryshnikov benefit concert
Harvie and Gilmer Heitman, two of Fort Myers' most prominent early developers, built the Arcade Theatre in 1915 as part of a planned commercial arcade on Bay Street. The venue opened as a vaudeville house hosting magic acts, plays, and local talent nights.
On February 5, 1917, after renovation, it reopened as a movie theater with a 1,000-seat capacity. The building served as the primary cinema for downtown Fort Myers through the following decades, attracting prominent winter residents including Thomas and Myra Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and the Burroughs family.
Architect Roy A. Benjamin designed a substantial reconstruction of the building in 1938. The rebuilt theater reopened December 20, 1938, with a Dick Foran film. It continued as a first-run movie house, adding CinemaScope in March 1954. The venue closed on February 22, 1977, when ABC Florida State Theatres ended operations.
In 1989, a benefit concert featuring ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov raised funds for a full restoration. The theater relaunched November 1, 1991, as a performing arts venue with 393 seats. Florida Repertory Theatre began programming the space in 1998 and remains the resident company. The building sustained major flooding damage from Hurricane Ian in September 2022 but has since resumed operations.
Sources
The Arcade Theater's ghost tradition has accumulated through more than a hundred years of use. Performers and staff have described a consistent set of experiences: footsteps audible in an empty auditorium between rehearsals or after shows, individual seats found displaced from their previous positions, and cold spots that appear during performances in sections of the house not near air handling equipment.
The balcony is the focal point of the watching-presence reports. Performers describe feeling observed from the darkened upper level even when they know it to be empty—a sensation described in regional coverage as persistent enough to have been documented by multiple people over years. A Facebook video produced by US Ghost Adventures specifically identifies 'the darkened balcony' as the primary locus of paranormal activity at the theater.
The theater has featured on Fort Myers haunted history walking tours, which cite it among the city's most reliably active locations. No formal paranormal investigation has been published for the Arcade Theater specifically, and the Florida Repertory Theatre does not market a haunted reputation.
Where this legend is told
The 393-seat proscenium house where empty-auditorium footsteps and shifting seats have been reported. The balcony—still intact—is consistently described by performers as the source of a watching presence. Season runs through April 2027.
Some links on this page may earn HauntBound a small commission when you book, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial picks are independent. Full disclosure
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Free Guide
11 verified stops, rated for families, mapped in order. Free.
One email to confirm, then the guide link. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cripple Creek, CO
The Butte Theater on Bennett Avenue is a historic Cripple Creek opera house rebuilt after the April 1896 fires that devastated the city. Associated with the Imperial Casino, it has operated as a performance venue for more than a century and is reportedly haunted by a ghost named Jack, linked to the nearby fire department.
Tucson, AZ
The Fox Tucson Theatre opened on April 11, 1930, as a combined vaudeville and movie house. After closing in 1974 and standing vacant for 25 years, the building was purchased in 1999 by the non-profit Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation for $250,000 and reopened in 2006 following a multi-year, multi-million-dollar restoration.
Washington, DC
The National Theatre opened at 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW on December 7, 1835, and has operated continuously on the same site ever since — making it the second-oldest performing-arts venue in the United States and the only DC theater to have hosted every sitting U.S. president. Fires damaged or destroyed the building multiple times, and the current structure dates to a 1923 rebuilding. The National presents touring Broadway productions, dance, and music.