HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A 1925 Eugene building that was a church, then a mortuary, then the Bijou Arts Cinema; now a two-screen theater where patrons report a presence tied to its undertaking past.
492 E 13th Ave, Eugene, OR 97401
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Standard movie ticket and concession pricing; see the Art House website.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored 1925 Spanish Colonial Revival building near the University of Oregon campus, now a two-screen art cinema.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1925 · 1925 Spanish Colonial Revival building by architect W.R.B. Wilcox · First Congregational Church, then McGaffey and Andreason Mortuary (1956) · Bijou Art Cinemas (1980-2021), now the Art House (2022)
The Spanish Colonial Revival building at 492 East 13th Avenue in Eugene was built in 1925 and designed by W.R.B. Wilcox, the University of Oregon's first dean of architecture. It opened as the First Congregational Church and served that role for several decades.
In 1956 the building was converted into the McGaffey and Andreason Mortuary. Its theater life began in 1980, when Michael Lamont founded the Bijou Art Cinemas in the space; the Bijou became a fixture of Eugene's independent-film scene near the University of Oregon campus. The Bijou closed in early 2021 amid the financial pressures the pandemic placed on small theaters.
The following year, the space reopened as the Art House, a two-screen art cinema operated by former Bijou staff, as reported by Eugene's public radio station KLCC. The building's layered history of church, mortuary, and cinema is part of what gives it a local reputation as one of Eugene's more atmospheric venues. In 2025, the property was sold to a studio-space company, with the theater reported to be staying in operation.
Sources
The building's reputation as a haunted spot rests on its decade as a mortuary rather than on any specific recorded incident. After it served as the McGaffey and Andreason Mortuary from 1956, the undertaking history followed the building through its cinema years, and some patrons describe a sense of presence during films.
Eugene Weekly leaned into the theme in a 2022 feature, naming the building Eugene's best 'former funeral parlor and questionably haunted' space, a framing that captures how locals treat the haunting: real enough to mention, light enough to joke about. Visitor accounts describe the feeling that, as one put it, spirit energy is always around in a former mortuary, but these are subjective impressions tied to the building's past use.
No identifiable individual is named in the legend and no death on the premises is documented as a haunting source. The strong, verifiable element is the building's unusual succession of uses; the haunting is the low-key local lore that succession naturally produced.
See a screening at the Art House, the two-screen art cinema that took over the former Bijou Arts Cinema space near the University of Oregon. The 1925 building served as a church and then a mortuary before its theater life, and some patrons say they sense a presence during films, attributed to that undertaking past.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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