1931 Boller Brothers Art Deco movie palace in Hutchinson, with persistent staff reports of doors slamming and seats lifting on their own
18 East 1st Avenue, Hutchinson, KS 67501
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Event ticket pricing varies by performance
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored 1931 movie palace; main floor accessible, balcony via stairs.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1931 · National Register of Historic Places · Boller Brothers Art Deco design · 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture
Hutchinson's Historic Fox Theatre opened on June 8, 1931, financed by approximately $400,000 in local subscriptions. The Boller Brothers — Kansas City architects known for movie palaces across the Midwest — designed the building in an Art Deco style, with what was advertised as the largest movie palace between Kansas City and Denver. The flashing neon marquee was the first of its kind in Kansas and remains in operation as one of a small number of surviving original American theater marquees.
The theater operated continuously through the mid-twentieth century and closed in 1985. In 1990, Hutchinson's Historic Theatre, Inc. — a non-profit formed for the purpose — purchased the building. A $4.5 million restoration completed in 1999 returned the Fox to active use as a performing-arts venue, and it has since been designated one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture by the Kansas Sampler Foundation.
Sources
Custodians and late-shift staff have described a recurring pattern of activity in the empty auditorium. Reports collected by Kansas Haunted Houses and shared in Hutchinson News coverage include doors slamming shut at night when no one is in the corresponding section of the theater, individual seats audibly lifting and lowering as if a patron were rising or sitting down, and footsteps in the upper lobby.
The most specific account on record is from the early 2000s, when a custodian reported the sound of breaking glass while alone in the building. A subsequent inspection found the glass cover of a fire extinguisher panel shattered, with no impact damage to the panel itself and no one else on site. A second staff member separately reported watching an aisle seat slam shut after a colleague turned away.
Attend a film, concert, or live event in the restored 1,221-seat Boller Brothers movie palace. The lobby and auditorium are the spaces most often associated with the venue's haunted reports.
Group tours of the Art Deco interior, projection booth, and stagehouse are available on request. Contact the Fox directly to arrange.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Durham, NC
The Carolina Theatre of Durham opened as the Durham Auditorium on February 2, 1926, was remodeled for film in 1929 and renamed The Carolina, and became one of downtown Durham's signature venues. During its first 37 years it operated under segregation, and in 1962 it desegregated following years of student-led 'Round Robin' protests organized by the local NAACP youth chapter.
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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.
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.