HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
The 1961 theater at USU Eastern in Price is named for Professor Elmo Geary; students greet 'Hi Elmo!' on the stairs to keep the building's namesake at ease.
451 East 400 North, Price, UT 84501
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by event; the venue hosts campus and community performances. Check USU Eastern's box office.
Access
Wheelchair OK
University campus building; proscenium theater with accessible seating; interior stairs to upper levels
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1961 · Among the oldest buildings on the USU Eastern campus · Named for Professor Elmo Geary (faculty 1951-1961) · Main proscenium performance hall in Price, Carbon County
The campus in Price began as Carbon College and is now Utah State University Eastern. The Geary Theatre, completed in 1961, became the campus's principal performance hall and is one of its older buildings. It was named for Elmo Geary, a faculty member who taught speech, debate, and theater at the college from 1951 and who pushed for the building's construction.
Geary died in 1961, the same year the theater was completed and dedicated in his name. His portrait hangs in the main room of the building, and the theater department's student club is named the Elmo Club in his memory. The hall has carried decades of campus and community productions; reporting in 2024 noted USU Eastern winding down its long-running theater program after generations of shows on the Price campus.
The building has since been refurbished as the Geary Event Center, a proscenium-style venue used for campus and community events. It remains an active part of USU Eastern's event-services facilities, hosting performances, presentations, and gatherings in Carbon County.
Sources
The Elmo Geary story is told by USU Eastern's own student paper and in the university's coverage of campus folklore. Geary, the speech and theater professor who advocated for the building, died in 1961, the year it was completed and named for him. Students attach his presence to the building, and the most enduring tradition is a greeting: as student Zoe Wagstaff described to the student paper, many people on campus call out 'Hi Elmo!' when they walk down the stairs, a habit meant to keep the building's namesake content.
The paranormal reports are modest. Former professor Dr. Corey Ewan has described supernatural experiences in the building going back to the 1970s, though the published accounts are general rather than detailed. Geary's portrait in the main room and the theater club named the Elmo Club keep his name present in the building's daily life, which sustains the tradition.
The Elmo story is campus folklore tied to a real and respected faculty member; it is recounted here as the affectionate tradition the campus maintains, not as a documented haunting.
Notable Entities
The Geary Event Center is the main proscenium theater on the USU Eastern campus in Price, used for campus and community concerts, presentations, and events. Attending an event is the way to see the building tied to the Elmo Geary tradition. Check USU Eastern's event services for the current calendar.
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