Lewiston Civic Theatre

Built in 1907 as a Methodist church before becoming a theater in 1972, this building on Main Street is tied to one of Lewiston's most notorious unsolved crimes. On September 12, 1982, Kristina Nelson, 21, and her stepsister Jacqueline Miller, 18, disappeared while walking to a grocery store; theater employee Steven Pearsall, 35, vanished the same night. In 1995, Lewiston police named a fellow theater employee as the primary suspect in what they believe was a triple murder committed inside the building, though no one has ever been charged. Nelson and Miller's remains were found nearly two years later in Kendrick; Pearsall has never been found, and the case remains open, still investigated by local police and the FBI. During its years as an active theater, staff and visitors reported footsteps, lights and objects moving with no explanation, and a persistent unsettled feeling — activity many connected to the unresolved case. The building has sat vacant since the Lewiston Civic Theatre relocated; the city put it up for auction in 2023 with no bidders, and it remains closed to the public. The theater company itself still operates today, staging productions at the former Lewiston High School Auditorium.