Our main venue is the Buskirk-Chumley Theater (BCT), a classic 1930s era movie house that’s been updated with a state-of-the art sound system, digital projection and a full size 30 foot by 20 foot screen. The BCT is located in downtown Bloomington and is within easy walking distance of a variety of excellent shops and restaurants.
Address:
114 East Kirkwood Avenue (see map below)
Bloomington, IN 47408
Phone:
(812) 323-3020
www.buskirkchumley.org
Map & Directions
The haunted history of the old ‘Indiana’
What is now the Buskirk-Chumley, actually began life as the Indiana Theater. Built in 1922 by the Vonderschmitt family, the ‘Indiana’ opened as a vaudeville and silent movie house. The theater was an instant success, welcoming 1300 people on opening night to see “The Storm” starring House Peters. Before long the ‘Indiana’ became a fixture in the community- a place for people to cool off from the hot Indiana summers.
Fortunes changed when, in 1933, the theater mysteriously caught fire and nearly burned to the ground. As fire fighters made a valiant effort to put out the blaze, a young mother leaned out of her tiny upstairs apartment above the box office and dropped her baby to waiting arms below. The woman disappeared inside, shortly before flames engulfed the building.
The cause of the fire was determined to be arson, although the case was never solved. Many believed the fire was started by three men hired by a labor union as retribution for the owners’ resistance to heavy handed union tactics.
Some friends of the theater owners chased the three men south into Kentucky, killing one and throwing his body into a river. Determined to carry on, the family rebuilt the ‘Indiana’ in 1934, returning it to its former glory.
75 years later, few records of the fire remain, and it’s difficult to determine who may have survived. Today, the apartments above the theater have become offices and there are some who work there who have reported hearing strange sounds from the upstairs projection booth, which was closed off nearly twenty years ago…
sending...
