1922 Apostolic Faith Church building turned 1980s nightclub and 1991 music venue; the 1990 murder of 21-year-old promoter Tim Moreau by owner Larry Hurwitz over a counterfeit-ticket scheme anchors one of Portland's best-documented hauntings.
8 NW 6th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Concert tickets vary widely by act, typically $25-$80; 1,400 main-room capacity plus 400-capacity Peter's Room.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Old Town Chinatown sidewalk approach; main floor standing-room and small balcony.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1922 · Apostolic Faith Church Original Construction · Starry Night Nightclub Era (1982-1991) · Tim Moreau Murder (1990) — Documented True Crime · Best Haunted Venue (Willamette Week)
The Apostolic Faith Church constructed the building at 8 NW Sixth Avenue in 1922 in Portland's Old Town Chinatown district. The structure included a 200-seat chapel on the ground floor and a large meeting hall upstairs with capacity for 1,150, sized to accommodate a 40-piece orchestra. The entire building was constructed with donated labor from the church's congregation. The hall was used for religious services, gospel music, and revival meetings through the church's tenure.
In 1982 the building was purchased and converted by Larry Hurwitz into the Starry Night nightclub, a venue that hosted touring acts including Animotion and Nu Shooz across the 1980s. The Starry Night operated as a sub-1,000-capacity venue during this period and developed a regional reputation for rock, new wave, and pop programming.
The building's modern paranormal reputation traces to a documented 1990 murder. Tim Moreau, a 21-year-old promoter at the Starry Night, was murdered in the theater on January 23, 1990, after a John Lee Hooker concert. The crime was orchestrated by Larry Hurwitz to prevent Moreau from reporting a counterfeit-ticket scheme — The Oregonian had published a story on January 22, 1990 about the discovery of 180 counterfeit tickets to the Hooker concert connected to Hurwitz, and Moreau disappeared the following day. Hurwitz's associate George Castagnola pleaded guilty in 1998, stating he held Moreau down while Hurwitz strangled him. Hurwitz himself pleaded no contest and was convicted in 2000, serving approximately seven to eight years.
Hurwitz sold the venue in 1991 and it was renamed Roseland Theater to disassociate from his reputation. David Leiken's Double Tee company completed a $2.5 million renovation by 1997, expanding capacity to 1,400. The venue now hosts 150-180 events annually and features Peter's Room — an intimate 400-capacity showcase space. Willamette Week has named Roseland 'Best Haunted Venue' in its annual readers' polls.
Sources
Roseland Theater is one of the rare Portland haunted venues whose paranormal lore traces to a fully-documented, court-adjudicated violent death. Tim Moreau — a 21-year-old promoter for the Starry Night nightclub, the venue's 1982-1991 incarnation — was murdered in the building on January 23, 1990. Owner Larry Hurwitz orchestrated the killing to prevent Moreau from disclosing a counterfeit-ticket scheme that The Oregonian had begun reporting the previous day. Hurwitz's associate George Castagnola pleaded guilty to participating in the murder in 1998, providing testimony that he held Moreau down while Hurwitz strangled him. Hurwitz pleaded no contest in 2000 and was convicted; he served approximately seven to eight years in prison.
The documented true-crime backbone of the lore distinguishes Roseland from venues whose haunted reputation rests on unverified or anonymous claims. Per Willamette Week's 2023 feature on the venue's paranormal reputation, concertgoers and staff report footsteps echoing through empty corridors when no one is present, sudden cold drafts in back-of-house spaces, and whispered voices that cannot be traced to a source. The basement-level areas where Moreau is believed to have been killed receive a disproportionate share of the reports.
Willamette Week has named Roseland 'Best Haunted Venue' in its annual readers' polls. The venue's current operators do not actively promote the haunted reputation but acknowledge the unsolved-feeling weight of the Moreau case — the murder was solved a decade after the fact, the body recovered, and the perpetrators convicted, but the venue retains, in the lore, a kind of residual presence attributed to Moreau himself. We frame the entity attribution as 'said to be Tim Moreau' rather than as a confirmed identification.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Catch a touring rock, hip-hop, or indie act in Roseland's 1,400-capacity main room — the same room where Tim Moreau was murdered after a 1990 John Lee Hooker concert. The basement and back-of-house corridors carry the strongest paranormal reputation.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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