Some say Stambaugh spirit still lives in auditorium
A temple of sandstone, nearly 100-years-old, drips in luxury and detail. The acoustics are so crisp, you can hear every footstep. But while old buildings tend to make noise, Stambaugh Auditorium is more than talkative.
A temple of sandstone, nearly 100-years-old, drips in luxury and detail. The acoustics are so crisp, you can hear every footstep.
But while old buildings tend to make noise, Stambaugh Auditorium is more than talkative.
"I got a phone call at like 2:30 in the morning telling me they were leaving because somebody was playing the organ and I'm like... 'That's not possible. The organ console is not there,'" said GM Matt Pagac,"They're like, 'We know it's not there that's why we're leaving.'"
Pagac says they've heard it all, from radios crackling to a man's voice clear as day. Each noise hovers over the blue velvet seats like fog.
"Anything odd or unexplained happens here, we say it's Henry," said Pagac.
A spirit the crew says they know all too well. In fact, you don't have to look far to find Henry Stambaugh's name. The building is named after him.
This auditorium was Henry Stambaugh's vision, a dream brought to life by his brothers after he mysteriously died in 1919.
"How he actually died we don't know. He was in New Orleans on Warbarn Drive for World War I," said Pagac, "What caused his death ... there isn't anything that I know of, any record."
But the legend is that death didn't stop Henry from walking through the auditorium himself.
"There was a large group number on stage in the concert hall here. Maybe 25-30 girls on stage and they are all convinced. And at dance competitions, the balcony is closed there is nobody up there. It's locked you can't get in," said Pagac.
"They are all convinced all of them that there was a guy in a suit standing on the balcony. Later on, in the evening they told us that it looked just like the picture that is out here in the lobby of Henry who is in a suit."
Pagac's thought? Henry is just sticking around to keep an eye on the place so dear to his heart.
"I think he's a friendly ghost for sure I think he's just looking out for this place and just making sure everything goes well," said Pagac.
And while he may not be a phantom of the opera, Henry may just be the spirit of Stambaugh.
