1. Oct. 30, 2013
Brandy Stark, PhD, Mary Noell, Donna B., Miki Gotshall Strange
PALLADIUM: THE
GHOST TOUR

2. Mission
Mission (via website: http://www.mypalladium.org/?page_id=2159)
The Palladium Theater at St. Petersburg College fosters artistically and
culturally diverse performing arts, educational and film programs that bring
artists and audiences together in a first-class, yet affordable theater setting.
•Present and produce a schedule of innovative arts performances and events.
•Provide a full-service, affordable rental facility for artists, producers and
community organizations.
•Nurture relationships by partnering with established and emerging local
artists and cultural organizations that use the Palladium as a venue for artistic
growth.
•Showcase the educational programs of St. Petersburg College and afford
students a cultural opportunity to work intimately with renowned touring
professionals as well as with local artists.

3.  The Palladium Theater was built in 1925 as the
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First Church of Christ, Scientist. [2]
Cornerstone ceremonies were held on
Thanksgiving Day in 1925. [2]
Includes a 1926 Skinner organ, still in use today
Note: Vinoy, 1925; First United Methodist
Church (red brick building), 1926.
Dedicated late 1942 - in keeping with the
Christian Science custom of waiting to dedicate
a church until after its debt was paid. [6]
Building designed by Howard Lovewell
Cheney, who also designed Washington, D.C.’ s
Reagan National Airport [2]
History
The building was built by the George A. Fuller Construction Company, builder of
three iconic New York City buildings —Flatiron Building and the Lincoln Center in
New York, as well as the National Cathedral and the Supreme Court Building in
Washington, D.C. [2]

4. History
 Sunday attendance: Initially standing room only
(auditorium held 1000), but by 1998, Sunday
attendance had plummeted to about 50. [6]
 August 25, 2000: First Church of Christ Scientist and the
Third Church of Christ Scientist started to worship
together [merger]
 1998: That year, the church was sold to the
Palladium Theater, Inc., an arts group
 $300,000 in renovations/alterations completed
 Seats removed for stage, new lighting, new
acoustics, sprinkler system, accommodations, Sunday
school rooms rennovated Gus Stavros Great Room
(meetings), Side Door Cafe
 Florida Orchestra first performance in the new
theater
 2007: St. Petersburg College bought it [6]
 2012: Declared a Historic Landmark

5. Structure
 Romanesque Revival Architecture
 Centered in Germany, brought with German
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immigrants in the 1830s
Inspired by 11th and 12th century Romanesque
architecture.
Revival style tends to have more simplified
arches/windows than original style
Style widely used for churches
Here:
 Terracotta roof
 Corinthian columns
 Basilica floor plan (Roman)

6. Building
 Three main sections to building:
 Hough Concert Hall (seat 880), recent remodel* and
Skinner Pipe Organ**[3] [5]
 Hough Hall Main stage (seat 850) [4]
 Side Door Cabaret (175-seat) [4]

7. Haunted Activity
 Sounds
 Sights
 Peripheral vision manifestation
 Full manifestation
 Items moving
 Smells
 Sensations
 Cold, sensations of energy, or extreme warmth

8. Haunted Activity
 Ghost types:
 Ghost/haunting: Site recording (no interaction)
 Apparition: Active entity (interaction, personality)
 Dreams: Ancient concept reported from
Gilgamesh, Iliad, Odyssey to modern times
 Crisis apparition: One time appearance to pass on
a message
 Poltergiest: Entity that moves items

9. Urban Legend
 A secondhand story (friend-of-a-friend, FOAF) told
as true and just plausible enough to be believed.
 It may have a core truth to it that is exaggerated
and adapted over time to various locations.
 Usually involves
supernatural, horrific, embarrassing, ironic, or
exasperating series of events that supposedly
happened to a real person.

http://urbanlegendsofflorida.homestead.com/urbanlegendinterview1definitions.html

10. Haunted Activity
 Devil House: The lot behind the Palladium
was once a house. The house was torn
down by the city, but before it was at least
one person reported that the people in it
were Devil worshippers, complete with
blood letting ceremonies. When the house
was torn down the Palladium rented the
lot for $1 per year for guest parking.

11. Rumors of Haunted Activity
 Word of mouth:
 At one time, there were crypts associated with the
church; a woman buried in a crypt haunts the
Palladium.
 “I don't have any specific stories, but I used to live
near there, and I heard that it was haunted from
several different people, some of whom had lived
there for decades. This would have been in 1985 or
thereabouts” (CA, via electronic submission).

12. Reported Haunted Activity
 Queen's Promenade: Two people reported
seeing a woman dressed in red or orange
running (or hurrying) along in the room behind
the Promenade. The image was seen only
through windows and was very obscured. One
person may have been prone to suggestion or
imagination.
Possible cause for this:
stop lights at an odd
angle from the QP. (I
included a photo below).

13. Reported Haunted Activity
 Dressing rooms/Green room: A woman in red
or orange was spotted there.
 Note: A lot of energy in the area with Wifi, a/c
units, and flat screen TVs

14. Reported Haunted Activity
 Main stage area: Sounds like workmen setting
up on stage late at night (2 or 3 in the
morning).
 Odd noises heard
 Possible explanation: Ice machine which makes
noises that echo through the building late at
night.

15. Findings
 Too noisy to do EVP (electronic voice recordings)
 EMF: 0 – 3 scale, 1.4. Energy did go up and down
depending on the area we were in, especially near
doorways. This would be related to wiring.
 Using the EMF meter to question the entity, we
did get spikes with “Are you here?” and “Can you
confirm your presence?”
 Dressing room: Sensation of energy
 Main stage: Team member sensed a young
woman in her 20s, tight silken dress, who liked to
sing.
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Spikes on questions of time period: 1920 – 1940, 1970
Possibly had a heart condition.
After the initial set of questions the energy seemed to
die down.
 Could relate to set up in Side Door Cabaret
 Elevator: Man in red uniform still there

16. Research/Paranormal
 Crime
 No notable criminal activity in the area [15]
 No information discovered online with
regard to haunting of location
 No findings for the housing of crypts within
its time as a church.

17. Resources
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[1] http://www.pcpao.org/
[2] http://www.mypalladium.org/?page_id=2159
[3] http://www.visitstpeteclearwater.com/listings/1501
[4] http://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/listings/008/a0t40000007qtovAAA.html
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_M._Skinner
[6] http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/palladium-theater-is-designated-st-petersburg-historiclandmark/1234968
[7] http://www.mypalladium.org/?p=4422
[8] http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sptimes/obituary.aspx?n=sarah-deemhogan&pid=165650919#fbLoggedOut
[9]
http://www.memorialobituaries.com/memorials/obits_display.cgi?action=obit&memid=160232&clientid=brettf
[10] http://memorialpark.tributes.com/our_obituaries/Joanne-Oberkirch-Willis-87050934
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Engleitner
[12] http://obit.funeralnet.com/obitdisplay.html?task=Print&id=1076201&clientid=brettfuneralhome
[13] http://www.sptimes.com/Archive/081500/Obits.shtml
[14]
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19840906&id=dRsMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0FkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=
7032,1148982
[15]
https://www.crimereports.com/map/index/?search=175%20Fifth%20Street%20North+St.%20Petersburg+FL
[16]www.spiritsofstpetersburg.com
[17] Urban Legends of Florida.com