The Lyric Theatre has been around for a long time. It's one of those staples of a town that is taken for granted until it's gone. But the Lyric isn't gone.

   Rumors surround it's construction in the early 20th century. As a child, I routinely heard stories of a ghost in the balcony that could be seen late at night in the darkness. That ghost is supposedly from one of the builders that died when he fell from the rafters during construction. 

   Built at the start of the Great Depression, it was designed by an architect in Roanoke, Virginia. It originally had the recognizable theatre masks on the front, but have since been taken down and mysteriously disappeared. The Lyric began in a different location down the street and moved twice more before finally making its way into the current building. And it was one of the first theaters in Virginia to show "talkies."

   Now it relies solely on donations to keep it alive.

Source: 

http://www.thelyric.com/history/