St. Petersburg's 1924 dance hall — largest in the South at opening — where phantom footsteps have been heard on the 12,000-square-foot maple floor since Rex McDonald's death in 1984
535 4th Avenue N, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The building is operated by the City of St. Petersburg primarily as a rental venue; public events vary. Check calendar for ticketed events.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Single-level ballroom floor with flat entry
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1924 · St. Petersburg Historic Landmark Registry · Largest Dance Hall in the South at Opening · Site of Major Big-Band Era Performances
St. Petersburg opened The Coliseum on November 20, 1924, sharing the date with the ribbon-cutting of the Gandy Bridge connecting it to Tampa. Architect T.H. Eslick designed the building and organizers H.L. Winchell and C.F. Cullen promoted it as the "Palace of Pleasures" and the largest dance hall in the South. The 12,000-square-foot maple dance floor — uninterrupted, white, purpose-built for big-band dancing — was the building's defining feature.
Rex McDonald arrived four days after opening as a banjo player in the house orchestra. He spent the next five decades running the place. He booked the names that defined American popular music across the 1930s and 1940s: Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Guy Lombardo. Thelma, known to everyone as Boo, was a regular on the dance floor; she and Rex married in 1932, and the two of them — along with the Kaleel family as partners — operated the Coliseum until McDonald's death in 1984.
The City of St. Petersburg purchased the building in 1989 for $824,500 and invested $1 million in renovations, including air conditioning, electrical upgrades, and fire-sprinkler installation. The Coliseum was added to the St. Petersburg Registry of Historic Places in 1994. It appeared in the 1985 film Cocoon. Today it serves galas, job fairs, trade shows, and community events and continues to operate under the city's management.
Sources
Rex McDonald spent almost exactly 60 years at The Coliseum, from his arrival as a banjo player four days after opening in 1924 to his death in 1984. The first accounts of phantom dancing footsteps — the sound of shuffling feet moving in rhythm across the old maple floor in a darkened and empty building — emerged shortly after his death.
The reported phenomenon is specific: not random creaking or settling sounds, but something that sounds like dancing. The floor has 12,000 square feet of white maple, and the reports describe audible rhythm originating from somewhere on it. The Coliseum is frequently described as haunted by "a dancing couple," and given that Rex and Boo McDonald are the two figures most associated with that floor across a 60-year span, the association is predictable.
SPIRITS of St. Petersburg, a local paranormal investigation group, conducted a documented investigation in February 2022. Their report noted limited activity overall but recorded what they described as a period-consistent spirit box response in the history section of the building, and their sensitive reported impressions of a woman's presence in the laundry area and presences in the dressing rooms. High EMF readings in the box office area were attributed to stored equipment rather than paranormal causes.
A fatal shooting occurred at the venue in 2004 during a gem show security incident. That event has not become part of the primary haunted narrative, which remains centered on the McDonald era.
Notable Entities
The Coliseum hosts public events including galas, home shows, comic conventions, and community forums on its 12,000-square-foot white maple dance floor. The building's 100-year history — from the first night Glenn Miller played here to Rex McDonald's final year managing the floor — is on the walls. Check the city calendar for upcoming public events.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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