The following excerpt is from a 2005 Tribune Profile article highlighting the history of paranormal activity at three locations in Albert Lea. This part includes the section about the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center, which was at that time known as the Albert Lea Civic Theatre:

The Civic Theatre, located on North Broadway Avenue and Water Street, has been used for many different purposes. It was initially constructed in 1909 for the Idle Hour Theatre and has been used as a dance hall, roller rink, furniture store and youth center. The basement was used as a health or recreation facility and had a pool and sauna. It also was used as a location for boxing matches, according to Pat Rasmussen, theater manager.

In 1920, it was used as an overflow facility for the Albert Lea hospital during the flu epidemic.

It was in these years that a patient named Memie Gregson paid a visit.

Gregson was a young wife and mother of a 2-year-old girl named Cleo. She was just 26 years old when she came down with the flu.

The family had lived in Grinnell, Iowa, before they moved to 911 Oak Lane, a location just a few blocks from the temporary hospital.

“They brought her here and she got better. Her husband visited her one evening, but she passed away that night,” Rasmussen said.

A funeral was held soon after and Gregson was buried in Graceland Cemetary.

But many believe Gregson’s spirit didn’t leave the location where she died.

Years after the epidemic was over, the building was renovated to become the Civic Theatre. And ever since the building re-opened in 1981, there have been several sightings and strange incidents that have changed many skeptics into believers.

One skeptic who became an immediate believer was Rasmussen.

When he first came to the theater, Rasmussen heard the stories, but just like many, he chose not to believe them. The “hot spot” for sightings was the men’s bathroom, where a picture taken after construction revealed the image of a woman. Investigation into Gregson’s death also placed her at the location.

“I went into the bathroom and said, ‘If you exist, I’m sorry but I don’t believe this,’” he said.

But strange things began to occur right away.

“Our first show was ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,’” said Rasmussen. “Opening night, the light person said one of the lights just burned out. We fixed it, but then cue number seven was gone, so we re-programmed it. Then the third night, the special effects machine froze up in the middle of the show.”

Rasmussen could have dismissed the problems as human error or electronics malfunctioning, but something told him otherwise.

“I came down to the bathroom and apologized. Everything went smoothly after that,” he said.

Since that time, Rasmussen has heard strange noises and there have been times where he swears someone has followed him up the stairs. But there have been several other times he and others have experienced things they cannot explain.

“This just happened last year. I was sitting in the first row, talking to one of the actors a couple of rows behind me. As we were talking it was like something moved between us. It got fuzzy and then clear,” he said. He could still see the other person, but their image was blurred. Rasmussen asked the actor if they had seen something, and they replied they had, though they weren’t sure what it was.

“Then right after, I saw the glow of the exit sign outside the upstairs doors and it went out like someone walked in front of it,” he said.

Another time, an actress recalled that, while she was practicing on stage she noticed someone was upstairs watching her. Something seemed odd, and once she realized the person was at the same level as the exit sign, they disappeared.

The strange thing is, according to Rasmussen, the exit sign is 7 1/2 feet high.

Since the woman was able to pick out facial features, Rasmussen showed her a picture taken years earlier of the supposed ghost. When she was shown the picture, the girl said it appeared to be the same woman she’d seen, young with long hair.

Other people have claimed to feel someone tap them on the shoulder when no one was around and places in the building where there have been unexplained drafts of cold air. “Our doors aren’t closed so temperatures are pretty uniform,” Rasmussen said.

Something that happened to both Rasmussen and a teenager was the door to the men’s bathroom locked up on them, though there are no locks on the door.

“I had a show one night so I was checking the bathrooms to make sure they were clean. I went to the men’s bathroom and I couldn’t get the door open. I thought the custodian locked it, but couldn’t find him so I went back to the bathroom and realized there aren’t any locks on the doors,” Rasmussen said. He was able to get the door open easily after that, but Rasmussen wasn’t the only one to experience such a phenomenon.

“Someone who went in to the bathroom tried to go out but couldn’t open the door,” Rasmussen said. “She was pounding on the door. Her friends were outside but no one heard her.” The girl was able to get out a few minutes later.

Though there have been several stories of sightings or strange happenings, the spirit of Gregson appears to be harmless.

“I’ve never heard any bad stories. It’s more of a pranks kind of thing. But there is nothing evil, nothing falling, nothing being thrown,” Rasmussen said.

“She’s not mean, in fact I think now that we brought the youth theater back she really likes that.”

“There are just some things you can’t explain away.”

Rasmussen says that when they suspect Memie is behind something, they tell her to “Cut it out” and move on.