The Rialto Square Theatre - Joliet, IL
N 41° 31.608 W 088° 04.896
16T E 409763 N 4597804
The Jewel of Joliet as it's known, the Rialto Square Theatre is a former Vaudeville movie palace built during the "Golden Age" of movies.
Waymark Code: WM43X4
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 07/03/2008
Views: 65
Considered one of the top ten theaters in the nation, it is certainly one of the most beatiful we've ever seen. The building reflects Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Roman, Greek, Rococo, Venetian and Baroque architecture. The Esplanade, or inner lobby, is designed after the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France. The arch between the Esplanade and the Rotunda area has been carefully copied from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The elegant rotunda is surrounded by eighteen Corinthian-style columns and surmounted by a dome quite similar to the Pantheon in Rome. There are over one hundred crystal chandeliers and light fixtures throughout the Rialto. All are Czechoslovakian crystal. Steuben glass, copper and bronze. Each piece of crystal was crafted by the Victor S. Perlman Company, in Chicago. The magnificent chandelier in the center of the Rotunda is called "The Duchess". It is one of the largest crystal chandeliers in the United States. It weighs over two and one half tons,
is nearly twenty-two feet long and has approximately two hundred fifty lights. Perhaps it's this dramatic beauty that attracted the spirit of a young woman to the place.
Staff, workmen and patrons have reported seeing a female apparition floating around the theater. After the theater is closed to the public, she becomes more active letting the living know she is there.
One employee has a better rapport than most, due to a near death experience of her own, she says. After eleven years (and counting) the employee got to calling her Rachel. Then one day she clearly heard the spirit reply, "My name is not Rachel; it's Raquel."
Type: Ghost Stories and Local Haunts
Referenced in (list books, websites and other media):
"Haunted Highway - The Spirits of Route 66" by Ellen Robson and Dianne Halicki
Additional Coordinates: Not Listed
Website Reference: Not listed
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