HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
1907 Scranton vaudeville house turned arts center with reports of footsteps and attic voices
222 Wyoming Ave, Scranton, PA 18503
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by event; the venue has run a $1 first-Wednesday movie series. Paranormal investigation events are ticketed separately. See the venue's website and event calendar.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown Scranton theater on Wyoming Avenue
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1907 · Sylvester Poli vaudeville circuit theater · Albert E. Westover-designed 2,000-seat house · 1937 Art Deco remodeling · Restored as the Creative Performing Arts Academy of NEPA venue (2017)
The theater at 222 Wyoming Avenue opened in 1907 as the Poli Theater, the work of vaudeville magnate Sylvester Poli, an Italian immigrant who built a chain of theaters across the Northeast. Designed by architect Albert E. Westover, the Poli seated more than 2,000 patrons across an orchestra and two balconies on a block of Wyoming Avenue that functioned as Scranton's theater district. As a major vaudeville stage, it hosted touring performers including Harry Houdini, W.C. Fields, and Will Rogers.
On October 6, 1930, the house converted to movies and took the name Ritz Theatre. A 1937 remodeling gave the building its Art Deco character. Like many downtown movie palaces, the Ritz declined in the late twentieth century.
The Creative Performing Arts Academy of NEPA took over the building and reopened it to the public in March 2017, restoring it as a performing-arts center with a reduced seating count. By 2024 the venue was running a recurring discount movie series and a calendar of live events. The Ritz is also listed as a stop on Lackawanna County's Haunted Trail, which ties its early-twentieth-century history to its reputation for paranormal activity.
Sources
The Ritz carries one of Scranton's better-known theater hauntings. Accounts from staff and visitors describe footsteps echoing on the staircases, sudden cold spots, disembodied voices, and singing that seems to come from the upper floors or attic. Some retellings add the figure of a young girl seen watching from a balcony, though that detail is less consistently reported than the footsteps-and-voices phenomena.
The building's reputation has made it a regular target for paranormal investigators. It appeared on the television series The Ghost Finders, and the venue itself has marketed and sold tickets to public paranormal investigations held inside the historic theater. Local reporting on the building's revival has covered the ghost stories alongside its restoration.
The Ritz is included on Lackawanna County's Haunted Trail, which presents the theater's vaudeville-era history and its paranormal claims together. With multiple independent sources describing the reported activity, the Ritz is published here as a confirmed haunted-venue listing rather than a single-source claim.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Attend a movie screening, concert, or live performance at the restored Ritz Theater, now operated as a performing-arts center. The venue runs a recurring discount movie series along with a calendar of live events; check the official site for the current schedule and tickets.
The Ritz has hosted ticketed public paranormal investigations inside the historic theater, marketed around its reputation for footsteps, cold spots, and disembodied voices. These run as scheduled special events; availability and dates are posted by the venue and event partners.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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