The Mystery of the Princess Theatre
By: Payton McKelvey
For those of you who are not quite as familiar with the Edmonton area, there is an old theatre in the Old Strathcona area called the Princess Theatre. This beloved theatre was opened first in 1914 by one of Edmonton’s key personas: John W. McKernan. When the theatre first opened, it was used to show the best of the black and white silent movies of the time, as well as the occasional musical theatre production. The building itself has three levels in total. In the early years, all three floors were consistently full of people. The main and top floors were typically used for musical productions and viewing of silent films, but the bottom floor was a billiards hall used mainly for drinks and socializing.
In its early years, the theatre was very popular, especially among the elite. However as time moved forward the theatre began to lose its popularity and films called “the talkies” featuring actual dialogue came into existence and pushed aside the films that were played at the Princess Theatre. It is because of this decline in popularity and sales that the theatre had no choice but to transform its top floor into rentable apartments; this is where things get spooky. The rumour is that there is a spirit that haunts the Princess Theatre; a woman in a white dress, that appears to be a wedding dress, is seen walking the floors of the theatre. How peculiar that the spirit to haunt a theatre would be a bride, is it not? Well, the supposed history around this mystery woman is this: a woman moved into one of the apartments that was created on the upper level of the theatre with her fiance. On the day she was to be married, her fiance left her at the altar, and she was utterly devastated and heartbroken. (Trigger warning upcoming) The woman returned to her apartment alone and was found the next day hanging in her room in her wedding dress; she could not handle the devastation of her heartbreak.
As you can see, this beloved landmark has a rich history and has grabbed the attention of passers-by for years. The unfortunate truth is that the theatre has not been in use for years and has spent most of its time now being a beautiful building with a rich and fascinating history. It is most likely going to become a reality that the theatre will cease to exist, and no one will remember the theatre at all. The building will probably be transformed into something completely new and the memory of the Princess Theatre will fade from the minds of Edmontonians– until it is but a distant daydream.
Let us appreciate the beauty of this building while it still remains a part of this community. I hope that you all enjoyed this little bit of spooky history about this tucked away part of our city. Wishing everyone at CUE a Happy Halloween and I hope that everyone is able to have a wonderful and spooky night!
