The Center, located in High Point NC, was originally a grand old Theater. The theater lobby was tremendous in size with brass railings at the entrance. Going to the upper level,and looking up, there was a beautiful horse shoe shaped light built into the ceiling , lit with many light bulbs. It was lovely. In the auditorium, looking up at the ceiling ,there was beautiful fluorescent lighting fitting the theater's old decor. The screen was huge. This was a real show palace.
The old manager took me back stage. Here I saw several dressing rooms. All still in good shape, though they have not been used in many years. I followed him down a stair case to the basement. The tanks for the concession drink heads was stored here. This used to be the art room used during the days the theater was used for live plays. Then the old manager turned to me telling me he was going to show me where the air conditioner and heat was turned on and off during the seasons. I followed him down a steep spiral stair case, into the sub-basement. Here he showed me how to get the air conditioner going, along with the heat. The Center had the first air conditioner system installed in the City of High Point, NC. It was a carrier system. It was laid out in 3 rooms. The first room held the compressor. It was a large two cylinder compressor powered by one 75 horse power motor connected with V Belts 10 feet apart. The second room was the condenser room, and the third room was used for the air mover. Here, in the third room, was a huge squirrel caged fan six feet wide, and contained in its own room. The fan room had a small service door. The old manager told me that there were instances that the system would not shut down automatically, as it was supposed to. When this happened, I would have to come down stairs to the fan room, enter through the service door, then use the manual shut down located on the back wall.
I didn't like the sound of this at all.
I looked in and I saw the control on the far back wall. There was only about feet of space between the fan and the side wall, where I would have to make my way back at least six feet to the shut off. The old manager told me to never to enter into the room with anything in my shirt pocket and to be sure to take my neck tie off. He told me the fan would suck everything out of my pockets and if I had a neck tie on, it could pull my head into the fast moving fan. Damn, I thought, This was the part of the theater I didn't like.
The next morning he left me with the management of the theater. As a last bit of advice, he told me to listen to Austin, who was the projectionist ,that had been hired when the theater opened in the late 1920's. He told me that Austin could fill me in on some important information, and stressed, I emphatically, that I should listen to him.
I wondered what the old manager was talking about. I knew the company had a hard time keeping managers here. They would last about six months and either be transferred or quit. It was always my belief the theater was used as a training theater for new managers. I thought I had been sent here to learn to be a City Manager for larger towns. I never dreamed what was in store.
About the second night I was there, I guess, I was in my office working. I heard the movie end. A few minutes later Austin came downstairs to the office.
Austin was a old man who had a hard time walking. He was a good ole fellow. He sat in the chair looking at me, sometimes he would fall asleep then wake up very quickly. "Jerry," Austin said, "This is not the place to fall asleep." Then he would laugh a little.
That night, after about ten minutes, he suddenly told me "We have been in here long enough. Its time to get the Hell out of here."
Austin said this in a way that scared me a little. I looked up at Austin saying, "I have some reports to get done." He looked at me, saying, "NOW, we better leave." Austin was really scaring me, I worked for a few more minutes then said, "Come on, lets get out of here."
I was getting a little jumpy. What did this old man know, why was he so scared? Every time I would ask him, He would say "Later."
We went down stairs,and as I turned toward the Power room, Austin ask what I was doing. I told him I was going to turn the Lights off.
"NO," he said. "Leave them on. We've been in here too long. LEAVE THEM ALONE."
I did what the old man said. He was really scaring me now. We locked the front door and walked down the street to the parking garage. This was a long spooky walk. Austin was walking faster and faster. I've never seen the old man walk so fast.
We finally made it to the truck and was on the way home. On the way home I was asking Austin why no one could stay in there after closing. He wouldn't answer, He just looked at me with a disturbed look on his face. The only thing he did say, was, "You don't want to find out. I might tell you later when you are ready to believe."
What in the hell was this old man talking about?
I went in to work every morning 10 am. Austin was always waiting for me. We always went in together. He would sit on the sofa talking and sleeping. He was good company for me.
Then, there was one morning he was not there. I unlocked the door as usual, entered the theater and locked the door behind me. I turned on the lights. I walked up the stairs to the office. For some strange reason, cold chills came over me. I unlocked the office and started to work. About 45 minutes later, I could hear someone walking around in the lobby. I walked to the railing, and looked down at the lobby. Just as I placed my hand on the rail, the sound of walking stopped. I turned, heading back to the office. Just as I turned my back, the walking started again. I walked downstairs and checked the front door. It was still locked. COLD chills ran over me as I walked back to the office.
As I started up the staircase, I ran into an icy cold space. Just that one space. Ten I began to hear what sounded like two pairs of feet moving around the lobby. This time, the feet were running, and the cold spot I was standing in got colder. I extended my hand away from the spot, and the air was warm. I was scared. I turned and ran for the front door. I didn't bother to lock it. I didn't even think about locking the door. I just wanted the hell out.
It was so nice to be outside where it was warm. I was scared. As I walked to the truck, I stopped in at a coffee shop. I told the man there what happened. He looked at me saying, "Hell, first time I heard this happening there in the day time! How strange," he said.
It was he that gave me a little bit of information as to what might really be going on in the Center. He told me about the night in 1930 when a live play was going on at the Center. A prop fell on stage taking the head off one of the actors. According to this guy, , the story went that they couldn't find the man's head when he was buried. The head was found the day after the funeral and the head was then buried on top of his body. The coffee shop guy then said, "The actor, to this day, is still looking for his head He is mean. BE CAREFUL IN THE CENTER."
