1921 Spanish Baroque movie palace saved from demolition and reopened in December 2000 — restoration crews reported a ghostly projector running long after the original was removed.
32 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA 31401
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Show and screening tickets vary; venue does not currently offer a dedicated haunted tour.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored historic theater with accessible main level.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1921 · Opened December 26, 1921 with 'Camille' starring Rudolph Valentino · Savannah's first air-conditioned building · Closed 1976 after final screening of 'The Exorcist' · Narrowly saved from demolition; reopened December 2000 after $4M restoration · Managed by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) since 2002
The Lucas Theatre opened its doors on December 26, 1921, with a screening of the silent film 'Camille' starring Rudolph Valentino, accompanied by the comedy short 'Hard Luck.' The 86,000-square-foot Spanish Baroque Revival theater was developed by Arthur Lucas, an Atlanta-based theater impresario who built a regional circuit of movie palaces across the South. It was designed by architect Claude K. Howell and notable on opening day as Savannah's first air-conditioned building.
Through the 1920s and 1930s, the Lucas hosted first-run films and live touring acts. Attendance dwindled across the postwar decades as audiences moved to suburban theaters and television, and the Lucas closed in 1976 after a final screening of 'The Exorcist.' The building sat largely vacant and increasingly deteriorated through the early 1980s and was considered for demolition.
In 1987, Savannah preservationists Emma and Lee Adler organized a nonprofit to save the theater, and the group purchased the property in 1995. After a multi-million-dollar restoration, the Lucas reopened on December 1, 2000, with a screening of 'Gone With the Wind,' approximately 88 years to the day from its original 1921 opening. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) assumed management of the venue in 2002 and operates it today as a performing-arts theater for film screenings, concerts, the Savannah Music Festival, and SCAD events.
The Lucas is a contributing structure in the Savannah Historic Landmark District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
The Lucas Theatre's haunted reputation is rooted almost entirely in the late-1990s and early-2000s restoration period. According to accounts collected by Ghost City Tours and US Ghost Adventures, construction workers and early staff reported hearing the distinctive whirring sound of a film projector coming from the projection booth — at a point in the restoration when the original projector had already been removed from the building. Several workers described seeing the light flicker through the booth window despite the room being dark and empty.
Once the theater reopened in December 2000, additional reports accumulated: phantom applause heard from the empty house, footsteps crossing the upper balcony, and the feeling of being watched by staff working alone after performances. Visitors and tour guests have occasionally described seeing figures in early-20th-century clothing seated in the audience or standing near the proscenium — interpreted in tour scripts as the spirits of original 1920s theatergoers.
A tour-circuit story about a 1920s drive-by shooting of a Lucas ticket seller is repeated by several Savannah ghost tour operators but has not been corroborated in newspaper archives or police records; HauntBound treats this specific claim as folklore rather than fact. The phantom-projector story, in contrast, is rooted in recent first-person worker testimony from the restoration period and is the most frequently cited paranormal account at the venue.
The Lucas does not currently market its own haunted-tour program; the theater's haunted reputation is carried by neighborhood ghost-walk operators who pass by the building.
Notable Entities
Ticketed performance or film screening inside the restored 1921 Beaux-Arts movie palace. Many third-party Savannah ghost-tour operators discuss the theater's haunted history from the street outside.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Savannah, GA
The Savannah Theatre opened on December 4, 1818, with a performance of 'The Soldier's Daughter,' in a building designed by English-born Regency architect William Jay. The site has hosted live performances and films continuously for more than two centuries, making it one of the oldest continually operating theaters in the United States on its original location.
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.
Ashland, KY
The Paramount Arts Center opened September 5, 1931 in Ashland, Kentucky as one of the first movie palaces purpose-built for sound film. Designed by Rapp and Rapp, the theater closed in 1971 and was rescued from demolition by the Greater Ashland Foundation, reopening as a performing-arts center in 1972.