The Sturgis Haunted House Is Paying for a New Theater Curtain

Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, but in Sturgis it starts two days early. Here's the week's first event. On Thursday and Friday, October 29 and 30, the Sturgis Area Arts Council opens a free haunted house in part of the Massa Berry building. Every donation dropped in the jar goes toward renovating the theater at the Sturgis Community Center, a few blocks away. From there the week moves to the downtown shops on Friday afternoon and out to the neighborhoods on Saturday. The haunted house money stays at work long after the candy is gone.

Here is the full run of the week, as the Sturgis Area Chamber community calendar lists it.

A haunted house with a building fund attached

The Arts Council is putting on the haunted house with BrewBerry Bistro and the Black Hills Storytellers. BrewBerry sits at the entrance to the Massa Berry building, at 890 Lazelle St. The Arts Council's announcement says all ages are welcome, admission is free, and donations go to the theater fund.

Friday night adds a second event in the same building. At 6 PM, storytellers Anne Bodman, Dorothy Rosby and Sharon Henry tell what the Arts Council calls a "spine-tingling prelude to Halloween." That event is for adults and teens. It costs $10, cash or check only, and that money goes to the theater renovation too. Younger kids can go through the haunted house at the other end of the building while the stories are going on. BrewBerry will sell beer and wine for anyone who wants a glass while they listen.

So families with kids of different ages can split up for Friday evening. The older kids sit in on the storytelling, the little ones go through the haunted house, and it all happens under one roof on Lazelle Street. Friday is also downtown trick-or-treat, from 3 to 6 PM, so a family could hit the shops first and walk into the haunted house when the light goes.

What the donation jar is paying for

The theater that benefits isn't in the Massa Berry building. It's the stage inside the Sturgis Community Center. The Black Hills Pioneer reported that Arts Council members Dedi LaRue and Francie Reubel-Alberts told the Sturgis City Council the group is starting a $150,000 fundraising campaign to renovate it. The Arts Council works with the city to use that theater as its main performance venue.

According to the Pioneer, the theater is 35 years old this year. The Arts Council has already replaced the sound system, bought a grand piano and refurbished a stage floor that had become dangerous for performers. The new campaign covers replacing the stage curtains, replacing the carpeting and aisles, and restoring the stage floor again.

The curtain is in the worst shape. The Pioneer quoted LaRue directly:

"The curtain needs to be replaced, it's basically falling off."

She told the paper the group calls the campaign "the three R's," which stand for replace, restore and renew, "because that is what we have to do in that theater."

LaRue told the paper the Arts Council left the stage curtain unused during its most recent production of Cinderella. In the same article, Reubel-Alberts said the theater "is used all the time, extensively."

The campaign has a next step after this one. LaRue told the Pioneer that once the theater money is raised, the Arts Council will start fundraising to continue the city's public art project, with more historical sculptures for the south and west entrances to Sturgis. The group is behind the Col. Samuel D. Sturgis sculpture already standing on the west side of town. A few dollars in the haunted house jar on Thursday go into the same fund that comes before a new statue at the edge of town.

Why an old hospital makes sense for a haunted house

The building hosting all this has history that suits the season. The Massa Berry building started out as Sturgis Community Memorial Hospital. According to Historical Sturgis, construction began in May 1951 and the hospital opened to patients on September 1, 1953. It was named for Dr. Lawrence Massa, an osteopathic physician.

These days the building is a business hub. A 2025 feature in BHSU's Ponder magazine describes how John Strand and Erica Spurrier, who run several businesses inside, turned the 1950s hospital into that hub. The Massa Berry building's website lists BrewBerry Bistro, rental offices, a group exercise room and a climbing gym, and its directory includes Black Hills Information Security and several wellness businesses.

Locals who already know the coffee shop or the climbing wall will find part of the building turned into something else for two evenings. And it's a 1950s hospital helping pay for a 1990s theater.

Saturday moves out to the neighborhoods

On Halloween night itself, the Chamber calendar spreads the events across town, with times staggered from 4 PM until after dark.

Early stops, 4 to 6 PM. First Presbyterian Church holds its trunk-or-treat from 4 to 6, and Monument Health Sturgis Care Center welcomes trick-or-treaters during the same hours.

Around dinnertime, 5 PM. The Old School Neighborhood Trick-or-Treat starts at participating homes at 5. That's door-to-door trick-or-treating, and households have signed up to keep their porch lights on. St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church starts its trunk-or-treat at the same hour.

Later in the evening. Fort Meade VA Hospital hosts trick-or-treating from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. For adults, Kickstands Bar & Grill starts its Halloween party at 7.

With those times, a family could start at the Care Center or First Presbyterian at 4, stop at a second spot before 6, and walk their own block once the porch lights come on. Adults who skipped the Friday storytelling get a second chance at a costume night on Saturday at Kickstands. They had a first one the weekend before, too. The Sidehack Saloon party is Saturday, October 24, starting at 6 PM.

After the costumes come off

The library's calendar keeps going into November. Its History at High Noon series, co-sponsored by the Sturgis & Meade County Historical Society, meets at noon on the third Friday of the month in the Community Room of the Sturgis Public Library. It runs in October and November, then picks up again January through May, which puts the next talk on November 20. Every program streams live on the library's YouTube channel.

Then comes the holiday season downtown. The Chamber's event page lists a Tree Lighting Ceremony at Harley-Davidson Rally Point from 6 to 7 PM and the Parade of Lights from 6 to 7:30 PM on Friday, December 4. The page shows the tree lighting on Saturday, November 28, but its description calls it a Thursday event, so check that date with the Chamber before you mark the calendar.

By then, whatever the haunted house collected will be in the theater fund, and the Arts Council will be that much closer to a stage with a working curtain. Event details can change, so check the Arts Council and the Chamber calendar for updates before heading out.

At Real Properties of Lead Deadwood, we like a week that runs through a 1953 hospital, the downtown shops and every porch light in town. If you're curious how a place like the Massa Berry building or a house on your own trick-or-treat route fits into today's Sturgis market, speak with a Deadwood Neighborhood Expert and request a free home valuation. We'd be glad to talk it over after the candy runs out.