In 1910 in the town of Sanford on the northeast corner their was a theatre called the Imperial Theater which today is the present Florentine Palazzo building. It had a canopy suspended in the front with a mansard roof which was added in 1925. It was used for all kinds of entertainment and a speech was presented by famed lawyer William Jennings Bryan in 1916 which attracted most of the city.

At the same intersection on the southeast corner a opera house that looked like a barn called the Stars Theatre  was built which would be replaced by what is the Helen Stairs theatre presently in 1923. However it was called back then the Milane Theater which was formed from a pair who started it Frank Miller and Edward Lane.  After its completion it could seat 823 patrons. It also had four stories, a proscenium arch, and an orchestra pit.  The theatre took business away from the Imperial Opera House and Princes Theater at the time.

The first professional opera performed in Sanford was the San Carlo Opera Company in 1926. The first sound movie to play in the city on 1928 was called "Tenderloin". The building also featured Water's Pure Sugar Candies which advertised "Not better than the best, but better than the rest".

Their use to be a show with Tom Mix with his horse Tony however someone cut off Tony's mane and tom threatened to sue the city.

The theater in 1933 was sold to Frank and Stella Evans Lake Mary residences who changed the name to the Ritz. It stayed opened for over 40 years then in 1978 remained vacant till 1984. The 1960s really took a toll on the theater as it had economic problems leading to its closure.

It stayed open once again till 1988 and was called the Showtime Cantina and eventually closed remaining vacant until 1995. The heirs of the Evans or rather the Ritz still owned the theatre but I could imagine they leased it out to earn some sort of profit but the 1980s was hard because it just could not stay opened for business. After a couple  years of remodeling in the mid 1990s, renovations and repairs it was renamed the Helen Stairs Theatre in 2000. Helen L. Stairs a local real estate broker started a corporation receiving donations. By 1998 the theatre was up for sale after repairs were made and so is how this theatre was born.

If you want to get technical this hollow tile and brick building rose up to four stories totally ninety seven feet of interior floor space. Their is also a second entrance which was used during the Jim Crow period for blacks to attend where it would take them to an interior balcony staircase due to days when segregation between races existed. When the Helen Stairs theatre was being restored the Orchestra pit was discovered which was hidden. Also a passageway was found under the stage which connected to the orchestra pit with a hatch in the center of the stage and another hatch on the left side of the state.

The second floor orginally was used as a private and residential function and was not accessible to theater patrons.  The space contained a small apartment with almost 400 square feet. The apartment had a living room, restroom and kitchen. Eventually the area was converted to a lounge and restrooms for those attending the theatre. 

Over the years many famous motion pictures and live shows took place here like Sherlock Holmes, Tale Of Two Cities, Good-Bye Girls which was filmed in Sanford. 

Still today much of the building still remains the same with its narrow alleyways, fire escape, stage entrance, brick walls etc etc. But as you know like most opera houses or theatres their always is a phantom. A story about someone dying and seen doing the same thing over and over. So I can only imagine their is some amount of residual energy here. But you have to take into consideration its age, the grounds the building was built on, then the fact that people also use to reside above the theatre in the apartment. Whether someone died here I do not know but I do know that if enough energy is put into a place such as happy moments, historical achievements, actors or actresses which eventually pass on it is quite likely that the unseen perhaps roams this theater. 

Very few old theaters in Florida remain today but to be able to visit such a place goes beyond just a paranormal treat but rather a piece of history which should be recognized.