Opened January 1918 and designed by B. Marcus Priteca for Alexander Pantages, who built it with funds largely from his mistress Klondike Kate Rockwell and then abandoned her — both are said to haunt the balcony and stage.
901 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticketed performances; ticket prices vary by event.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Main floor accessible; balcony via stairs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1918 · Opened January 1918, designed by B. Marcus Priteca in Second Renaissance Revival style · Built with financial backing from Klondike Kate Rockwell, whom Pantages subsequently abandoned · Added to the National Register of Historic Places November 7, 1976 (NRHP #76001902) · Currently operated by Tacoma City Theaters under ASM Global management
Alexander Pantages commissioned the Tacoma theater in 1916 as part of his expanding vaudeville circuit. He engaged B. Marcus Priteca — a Seattle architect who specialized in theatrical design and would go on to design numerous Pantages theaters across North America — to create a Second Renaissance Revival showplace at the corner of 9th and Broadway. The building opened in January 1918, constructed on a site that had housed a department store since 1889.
The financing of the theater is inseparable from its haunting legend. Kathleen 'Klondike Kate' Rockwell, a dancer and vaudeville entertainer who had accumulated a substantial fortune from the Klondike Gold Rush, was Alexander Pantages's romantic partner for years. She provided significant financial backing — reportedly contributing heavily to a $400,000 construction cost — expecting that Pantages would marry her. He did not; he married another woman, leaving Rockwell financially devastated. She sued him for breach of a marriage promise and the two settled out of court for $25,000 — a significant sum, but far less than what she had invested. Rockwell spent the rest of her life in reduced circumstances.
In 1929, following the bad publicity of a rape trial against Pantages (in which he was ultimately acquitted on appeal), RKO Pictures purchased the Tacoma theater and six others. The building passed through multiple operators before its restoration. The theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1976 (NRHP #76001902). Tacoma City Theaters now manages it under a contract with ASM Global.
Sources
The haunting narrative at the Pantages is structured around its founding betrayal. Paranormal reporting by South Sound Magazine, Seattle Terrors, and American Ghost Stories consistently describes a female spirit in the balcony associated with Klondike Kate Rockwell — the woman who invested her fortune in the theater only to be abandoned by Pantages. The reported phenomena include a woman in period vaudeville dress singing old Italian love songs who vanishes the moment she makes eye contact with a witness. A second apparition, attributed to Pantages himself, is described in the auditorium.
Three additional figures appear in staff and visitor accounts. A stagehand identified as Jensen is blamed for lights flickering and disembodied echoes in the empty building. A ghostly usher — his figure described as blurred — is said to approach late-arriving patrons and guide them to their seats with a cold hand on the shoulder. Ghost-hunting groups have recorded unexplained temperature drops and electromagnetic fluctuations in the building.
The connection between Klondike Kate and the theater is historically documented: the Oregon Encyclopedia, the Spokesman-Review, and Utah's Alexander Pantages archive all confirm that Rockwell provided substantial financial backing for Pantages's early career and the construction of his theaters. Whether she contributed specifically to the Tacoma building is corroborated in multiple regional sources. Her subsequent financial devastation after Pantages's betrayal is likewise documented. The paranormal framework built on this history is plausible in terms of biographical motivation, though no independent documentation of her apparition exists.
Notable Entities
Attend a ticketed performance in the 1918 Second Renaissance Revival theater. The balcony — where a female spirit in vaudeville dress is most often reported — is accessible to ticketed audience members.
View the 1918 Second Renaissance Revival facade at 901 Broadway in downtown Tacoma. The theater is a National Register of Historic Places property.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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