HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
A 1935 Art Deco Paramount Pictures house on Lincoln Road Mall, where a phantom poodle, ghostly footsteps, and a woman in period dress have been reported for decades
1040 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by production; see website for current schedule
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor lobby and accessible seating available
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1935 · Art Deco Architecture · National Register of Historic Places — Miami Beach · Paramount Pictures Historic Theatre
Paramount Pictures built the Colony Theatre at 1040 Lincoln Road as part of its early 1930s expansion into Florida markets, and the venue opened January 25, 1935. At the time it seated roughly 1,200 patrons and was promoted as a "Beauty Queen" of Miami Beach entertainment, its Art Deco facade and interior fitting cleanly into the architectural identity Lincoln Road was establishing.
During World War II the building screened training and information films for servicemen stationed in South Florida. In the 1960s, architect Morris Lapidus redesigned Lincoln Road in the Miami Modern (MiMo) style, and the theatre was remodeled to match — moving the main entrance to the corner of Lenox Avenue and covering much of the original Art Deco detailing. The venue continued as a cinema, showing major releases including The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago, before shifting to live performance use in the 1950s and cycling back and forth between cinema and stage through the 1980s.
Samuel Kipnis acquired the building in 1971 to host cultural film programming. Miami City Ballet used it through the 1980s. A Save America's Treasures grant funded a $6.5 million renovation that stripped the MiMo overlay and recovered the original 1935 Art Deco design; the restored 417-seat venue reopened around 2006. Miami New Drama, under artistic director Michel Hausmann, took over management in 2020.
Sources
The Colony's paranormal reputation is unusually specific for a theatre. The most frequently cited entity is a toy poodle — visible, described as white, reported running through the building and chasing patrons down hallways before simply disappearing. Accounts of the poodle predate the 2006 renovation and have continued after it; no obvious origin story for the animal has been attached to the building's documented history.
The area behind and around the main stage produces a second category of reports: footsteps of an unseen presence, described as deliberate and distinct from the settling-building sounds common to old theatres. Miami Paranormal Research Society conducted investigations at the Colony and reported recording what they described as compelling audio evidence from this area.
A third presence — a woman in period dress consistent with the 1930s — is reported in the lobby and near the stage entrance. Some accounts describe her as waiting for doors to open; she is generally interpreted as a former patron or employee from the Paramount era. No named individual has been attached to this apparition by any source.
Paranormal activity is reported to have increased noticeably following the building's 1953 renovation, though it is unclear whether that represents an actual change or simply the beginning of written documentation.
Notable Entities
The Colony operates as a 417-seat performing arts venue managed by Miami New Drama. The restored Art Deco interior — original 1935 design recovered in a $6.5 million renovation completed around 2006 — is itself part of the draw. The stage and backstage corridor behind the main stage are where footstep and apparition reports most frequently originate.
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