What spirit lurks inside of the concrete walls of the Springfield Theatre Centre? Is it the ghost of a former actor...or something far more malevolent?

Just a short distance away from Springfield's Dana-Thomas Home is the Springfield Theatre Centre. It is a pleasant unassuming building with concrete block walls and a narrow auditorium that sort of resembles a movie theater complex.

But there is something in this theater, hiding and just waiting to show itself to anyone who dared to scoff at it's existence.

For more than 40 years, strange and inexplicable events have plagued the theater. Unexplained sounds and lights have been heard and seen, doors have opened and closed on their own, set pieces and props have fallen without aid and on at least one occasion, a filmy apparition has been seen.

So who is the spirit that haunts the theater? Those who work and perform here will tell you that the ghost is the spirit of a former actor named Joe.

"If there was anyone who was going to come back as a ghost...it would be Joe," Tom Shrewsbury informed us on the night that I visited the theater with Dana and Bucky from WICS-TV. Shrewsbury has been an actor with the Theatre Centre for decades and has had more than his share of encounters with the ghost.

"I knew Joe from many, many years ago, back in the 1950's," Shrewsbury explained. "We were doing a play called Mr. Barry's Etchings and Joe played the lead. One night after dress rehearsal, Joe went home and committed suicide. There was apparently an audit of the books at the place where he worked and a lot of money had been misappropriated.....and it looked as though Joe was going to be caught the next day.

Many feel that this could be the reason why Joe still haunts the theater. This was his first chance to play the leading role and he never made it past the dress rehearsal. The theater group simply replaced him and the show went on without him.

As the years have passed, performers in the theater have discovered that disbelief in Joe is usually what makes him appear. "Whether you believe in him or not," one of the actors told us on the night of our visit, "you don't say that you don't believe in him in here.....because things happen."

He went on to tell us of an unusual occurrence that took place one evening while they were building a set for an upcoming show. He was working in the there with a friend who was something of a skeptic. "The saw started up by itself." he said, "and as soon as it did, some sheets of plywood fell over and a ladder that was standing nearby fell over on it's own. The saw started to rev up again and right then Bill shouted I believe! I believe!"

Does the spirit of Joe still haunt the Theatre Centre? The performers there assured us that he does and in fact, on the same night that we visited there a stage prop fell just after we left the building. Real or coincidence?

I couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Barry's Etchings might ever be performed in the theater again. If it was, would Joe return to make his grand appearance?

"I hope not," one of the performers told us, "...but I don't know."