The Clifton 5 Theater was built in 1883 by Joseph Watson and Frank Heffright and was originally called The Opera House. The Opera House had a seating capacity of 1,500 and boasted plays of thrilling melodramas to wild west actions. Known as "Opera Block", the Opera House took up almost the entire block. Businesses made up the first floor and the auditorium were on the second, while the gallery took place on the third floor. Two wide flights of stairs were erected off the main entrance. Ironically, stairs such as those were no longer used in other buildings, because loss of lives in fires across the country made these types of staircases obsolete. A great depression swept the United States in the middle of the 1890s and it caused people to look into thigs with a more trained eye for fear of losing businesses to fire. So, insurance rates took a huge spike and in February of 1895, the board of trustees announced that the theater will do no more shows and the sets will be removed to make way for a Y.M.C.A. The theater sadly burned down in 1901. Although no lives were lost because of the fire, no one is sure what caused the fire. Some say it was three youths who caused the fires. While others attribute it to faulty wiring, defective flues, or possibly an overheated stove in one of the dressing rooms. The theater was bought and rebuilt in 1916 by Andy Gamble. Andy thought that "talkies" were more important to show rather than live theater, because it was cheaper and more profitable. Unfortunately, another fire hit the theater in 1920. Resulting in Andy to sell the building in 1921. Robert Blackford was the next owner, and he changed the name to Clifton after his son Clifton who at the time was serving in the Army. Mr. Blackford owned the Clifton for many years and became quite successful in making the theater profitable. Jim Kalos was the next owner of Clifton Theater and many interesting things happened under his ownership. A bomb threat was made on the theater but turned out to be a prank. When the movie Night of the Living Dead premiered, so many people rioted the movie that Kalos had to call in the police, because the rioters were shaking the ticket booth! Once again, the theater was to face another tragedy.... The Great Flood of 1972. The flood completely submerged Theater #2! David People bought the building in the mid 1970s and added theaters 4 & 5 and renamed it Clifton % for its 5 theaters.
PARANORMAL CLAIMS:
- In the lobby area a lady in red has been see walking up the staircase as well as, disembodied voices and the feelings of being touched.
- It is rumored to be said that the old handyman "George" still resides in the basement. There have been some who say they have seen "people" of the built-up walls in the basement.
- One woman claims that while using the lady's restroom she saw a globular structure behind her as she looked in the mirror.
- In Theatre #1, some have said they have been grabbed or had their hair touch and the feeling of heaviness in that area. While in Theatre #2, people have seen shadows walking the aisles, the disembodied sounds of footsteps on the stage.
- Theatre #4 is thought to be the most active. People claim to see or smell smoke, disembodied voices having conversations or the sounds of footsteps. People have seen shadows and the sounds of walking in the projector room, heard theater seats go down as if someone sat down, and even apparitions have been seen in Theatre #4.
YOUR GUEST INVESTIGATORS:
RTL PARANORMAL are from the Hampton Roads, VA area and began in 2009. They have well over 200 investigations under their belts and one of the very few paranormal groups in Virginia to have been exclusively invited by the military to investigate at their active bases. They have investigated with Daryl Marston, Mustafa Gatollari, and Kristen Luman from the television show Ghost Hunters many times and have assisted Flumeri Promotions in running many public ghost hunting events!
