HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Decatur's 1916 Art Deco movie palace where owner Gust Constan reportedly never left
118 North Water Street, Decatur, IL 62523
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by screening or event; see website
Access
Wheelchair OK
Indoor theater with level access on main floor
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1916 · Art Deco Movie Palace · Gust Constan Opera · Decatur Entertainment History · 1916 Opening
The Avon Theater opened on November 28, 1916, on North Water Street in downtown Decatur. Built in the Art Deco style, it seated several hundred patrons and became one of the defining entertainment venues in Macon County during the silent film and early sound era.
For nearly fifty years the theater was operated by Gust Constan, a Greek immigrant who acquired the Avon and devoted his professional life to it. Constan died in 1965, and by most accounts the documented paranormal activity at the theater intensified in the years following his death. Staff and visitors began reporting shadowy figures in the balcony, disembodied footsteps in the upstairs corridor, and what they described as phantom applause from an otherwise empty auditorium.
The most widely cited incident occurred in October 1998, when approximately fifteen people simultaneously witnessed shadowy figures moving in the balcony. The witnesses were in separate locations in the theater at the time, ruling out a shared-vantage hallucination. Troy Taylor, author of the Haunted Decatur series and one of Illinois's foremost paranormal documentarians, personally investigated the Avon and reported a distinct tug on his shirt while standing in the upstairs hallway with no one beside him. The Avon Theater now documents its ghost history on its own website, treating the Constan connection as central to its identity.
Sources
The October 1998 mass sighting at the Avon is the anchor of its paranormal record: approximately fifteen witnesses in different positions inside the theater reported seeing shadowy figures move across the balcony at the same moment. The incident was documented by Troy Taylor and has been cited as one of the most credible multiple-witness paranormal events in Illinois due to the spatial separation of the observers.
Beyond the mass sighting, staff members working late in the theater consistently report footsteps in the upstairs corridor when no one else is present, and the sound of applause from the auditorium when it is locked and empty. The Constan identification is a consistent thread: those who experienced the tug or the footsteps near the balcony corridor describe the presence as purposeful rather than threatening, consistent with someone checking on the state of the building they managed for decades.
Troy Taylor himself experienced a sharp physical tug on his shirt while standing in the upstairs hallway during an investigation. He documented the moment in his Haunted Decatur writing and considered it among the more direct physical encounters he encountered in the state. The theater's own website acknowledges this history and frames Constan as the likely presence.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The Avon is an operating independent theater. Visitors can attend film screenings and community events in the same auditorium where mass paranormal sightings were reported in October 1998. The ghost history is documented on the theater's own website.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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