Akron Civic Theatre

Three ghosts haunt this 1929 atmospheric theater: Fred, a custodian who died on the job in 1972 and chases vandals through the restrooms; a weeping woman who drowned in the Erie Canal and vanishes into the tunnel beneath the building; and an unidentified man in formal black attire who appears in the balcony during performances.

Fred gets angry when people make a mess in the bathrooms. That's the kind of ghost story you get at the Akron Civic Theatre: a dead custodian who spent his entire adult life mopping these floors and apparently decided death wasn't a good enough reason to stop. Staff say Fred (possibly Paul Steeg, who helped open the theater in 1929 and died on the premises in 1972) will chase vandals through the halls and physically confront anyone trying to damage his building. He's been spotted all over, but the restrooms are his territory.

The theater opened on April 20, 1929, as Loew's Akron, a $2 million atmospheric palace designed by Austrian architect John Eberson. Marcus Loew had purchased the site at a sheriff's auction in 1925 for $143,000. Eberson built the auditorium to look like a Moorish castle courtyard with a ceiling that mimics a twilight sky, complete with twinkling stars and drifting clouds projected overhead. The four-story lobby features Italian alabaster sculptures, Mediterranean decor, and medieval carvings. It was reportedly the first air-conditioned building in Akron.

The site sits along the route of the Ohio and Erie Canal, which fueled Akron's growth after opening in 1827. The canal ran until the Great Flood of 1913, when city workers dynamited the locks to prevent catastrophic flooding downtown. That canal history feeds directly into the theater's second ghost: a young woman who drowned herself in the Erie Canal behind the building. Witnesses report a weeping figure walking along what is now the Lock 3 area, who vanishes into the tunnel running beneath the theater when spotted. Her haunting may predate the building entirely, since the canal was operational for decades before construction began.

The third presence is a well-dressed man in formal black attire, sometimes wearing coattails, who appears seated alone in the balcony during performances. Nobody knows who he is. Michael Carmany, an electrician who worked for the Akron Junior Chamber of Commerce's haunted house in the late 1970s, reported seeing the balcony figure multiple times while working alone in hidden areas of the theater. Carmany also described hearing what sounded like screams from the direction of the canal, though he initially chalked it up to the sound of water. He later identified himself as "a believer."

The Akron Beacon Journal has covered the theater's ghostly reputation over the years and even sent psychics to investigate. The theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1973. A community campaign led by the Akron Civic Theatre Women's Guild and the Jaycee Foundation saved the building after declining attendance nearly forced it to close in 1965. A $22 million restoration in 2002 brought it up to modern standards, and an additional $9 million renovation in 2021 added new performance venues. It's one of only five surviving Eberson-designed atmospheric theaters in the country, and it hosts over 500 events a year. Ghost tours of the building and surrounding downtown Akron are offered by US Ghost Adventures and Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours.