Restored 1922 Adamesque movie palace on East Main where ghost investigators reported seeing a full apparition of a man in a tan jacket leaving a screening room.
214 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Standard movie and concert pricing; varies by show.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic downtown theater with ADA-accessible main auditorium.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1922 · 1922 Adamesque movie palace, one of central Kentucky's most ornate · Survived a major Lexington flood in the 1920s · 1987 fire forced closure; reopened 1992 after city-led restoration · Active nonprofit arthouse cinema with original Wurlitzer pipe organ
The Kentucky Theatre debuted on October 4, 1922 along Lexington's then-thriving East Main entertainment row, designed in an Adamesque vein with elaborate plasterwork, a domed lobby, and 1,100 seats. It opened as a movie palace and vaudeville house and quickly became the most lavish single-screen venue in central Kentucky.
During the late 1920s the theater was nearly lost to a major Lexington flood, but it survived and continued operating through the Depression and television era. In 1987 a fire gutted significant portions of the building, prompting closure and uncertainty about its future.
Lexington's city government acquired the property and, working with a community-led nonprofit, completed restoration that reopened the theater in 1992. Today the Kentucky Theatre operates as an independent arthouse cinema and concert venue, programming first-run independent films, second-run features, the long-running Summer Classics series, and special events that occasionally bring out the original Wurlitzer pipe organ. A secondary auditorium incorporates space that was formerly the separate State Theater next door.
The theater is documented in the Cinema Treasures registry and is featured in Patti Starr's regional ghost guidebook 'Ghosthunting Kentucky.'
Sources
The Kentucky Theatre's paranormal reputation is most thoroughly documented in Patti Starr's regional ghost guidebook 'Ghosthunting Kentucky' (Clerisy Press), which devotes a chapter to her Ghost Chasers International team's investigation of the building. Per published summaries of that investigation, investigators reported seeing a full apparition of a male figure in a tan jacket, white shirt, and black pants as the team was exiting one of the upper rooms.
The theater's secondary auditorium occupies space that was previously the separate State Theater next door, and some of the reported phenomena cluster in that older structural envelope. Starr's televised follow-up with Lexington broadcaster Greg Stotelmyer (sometimes packaged under the 'Ghastly Ghosts' banner) revisited the location with cameras present.
The Kentucky Theatre is a standard stop on both the US Ghost Adventures Lexington Ghost Tour and the ScavengerHunt.com Lexington Ghost Trail self-guided walk, with guides leaning on the Starr investigation as the primary documented source. No deaths have been reliably tied to the building itself, and theater management has not formally endorsed or denied the haunting claims.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Catch an arthouse film, concert, or community event in the restored 1922 main auditorium, with the original Wurlitzer pipe organ sometimes featured.
Multiple Lexington downtown ghost walks include the Kentucky Theatre as a documented stop, with guides recounting Patti Starr's on-camera investigation.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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.
El Paso, TX
The Plaza Theatre opened September 12, 1930 on Pioneer Plaza in downtown El Paso. Developer Louis L. Dent commissioned the Spanish Colonial Revival movie palace in 1927, and the inaugural night drew a crowd of 2,410. Its lavish interior was designed to evoke 'the fabled beauty of Old Spain and the charm of Old Mexico.' After decades of decline, the theatre was extensively restored and reopened as a performing-arts venue, now home to the Plaza Classic Film Festival and a wide range of touring performances.
St. Louis, MO
The Fabulous Fox Theatre opened in January 1929 as one of five 'Fox' picture palaces commissioned by film magnate William Fox. Designed by C. Howard Crane in a 'Siamese Byzantine' style, the 4,500-seat auditorium was the second-largest in the United States at its opening. After decades of decline the theatre closed in 1978 and was restored by the Fox Associates beginning in 1981, reopening in 1982 as the centerpiece of Grand Center.