It may be the most haunted place in Western New York.. The Town Ballroom has certainly generated some of the scariest stories. According to operations manager Peter Coyle ""you can walk around and feel like some is behind you." In the basement hallway that runs underneath the building owner Artie Kwitchoff says "Nobody like to come down here." During prohibition this was the site of a speakeasy. Later in the 1940's and 50's it was the Town Casino, a show case for some of the biggest stars including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Connie Francis. Some say that even the notorious gangster Al Capone spent time here. Peter Coyle say's his scariest experience was captured on his cell phone when the building's motion detector set off an alarm and recorded strange light images. There was no one in the building at the time and no explanation. Artie's says that after he bought the place and before it opened, some plumbers were scared out of the basement "they said who keeps turning off the lights on us." There was no one else in the basement. Artie's favorite stories are not about ghosts, but about the iconic stars who came through the doors. Bobby Darin made his first night club appearance here and Danny Thomas had a bad night and prayed to St. Jude to save his career. Artie says "we're talking about some of the legends of entertainment."
