January 17, 2009
Members of the team met at the Theater at 7pm., took baseline photos, temperature readings and did a walk through of the facility. The majority of the Theater ranged from 61dg to 65dg with the exception of the balcony which was around 85dg.

BACKGROUND:

Guy O. Vail originally opened the Theater. The Rialto was the first motion picture theater in Morrilton and in the spring of 1925 it was sold to I.W. Nance of Conway. In 1927 Arkansas Amusement Enterprises, Inc purchased the theater and officially renamed it the Rialto Theatre. The Rialto closed in 1987 and was vacant until taken over by the city. Restoration began in 1997.

ACTIVITIES:

A feeling of uneasiness reported in the balcony area. A maintenance man purportedly had a broom knocked out of his hands.

Notes: There was also a rumor of an accidental death that occurred outside the theater as a result of information gathered during a prior investigation by another group. A former hardware store located behind the theater was also acquired and the old storage area converted into dressing rooms. Interestingly we found out that during the theater operation TNT and blasting caps had been stored in the storage room. Adjacent to the dressing rooms is an area for storage and a loading area. This was part of an old alleyway that was an unsanctioned social gathering area for drinking and gambling during its history.

OBSERVATIONS/PERSONAL EXPERIENCES:

NOTES AND VALIDATIONS:

We did have several EVPs that seemed to correspond with historical/community information. The first is a movie "BullDog Drummond" the name which was acquired through an EVP along with the character name. It was an actual Silent Movie with the actor mentioned and in the early timeframe of the theater operation.