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Author
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Topic: Franciscan Plaza To Reopen
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Christopher Crouch
Member
Posts: 292
From: Anaheim, CA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted May 09, 2009 04:26 AM
Looks like San Juan Capistrano will finally have a cinema again. Also, nice to see a long dormant Orange County theatre reopening, not being gutted or razed for retail/offices.
OC Register Article
quote:
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Contracts signed on new downtown San Juan theater
After nearly a decade dark, the theater inside the Franciscan Plaza could be open by Thanksgiving.
By PETER SCHELDEN
The Orange County Register
Amid the sound and smell of freshly popped popcorn, Regency Theatres signed a lease contract to bring a new movie theater to a vacant space in downtown San Juan that once housed an Edwards cinema.
The new theater will be open by Thanksgiving, Regency Theatres President Lyndon Golin said at today's signing. Terms of the lease were not disclosed, though Regency has a 10-year, no-interest loan from the city for $450,000.
For nearly a decade, the space at Franciscan Plaza on Verdugo Street near the train station has been empty.
Councilman Sam Allevato said the city will see to it that the theater opens in November.
Dave Busk, who managed the space for eight years, was removed from the property last July as part of a lawsuit. Under his management, the space was plagued by several unmet deadlines for opening a new theater.
“(Busk) just flat out didn’t have a good business plan,” Allevato said.
Members of the downtown business community believe the new theater will draw customers downtown to help ease a recession that has seen many small businesses in the region close shop.
Ruby’s owner Joe Campbell, who has been the Franciscan Plaza’s only continuous tenant in recent years, said the Edwards theater drew more customers to his restaurant, and he expects the Regency theater to do the same.
“I’m not concerned what the (opening) date is,” he said. “My concern is there seems to be a legitimate commitment to open it.”
Some work is necessary to open the theater, both by the property owners and by Regency Theatres.
Owners Fabio Russo and Alberto Mobrici will need to make the building “cold-shell ready,” which basically means to drywall the interior, San Juan Development Director Douglas Dumhart said.
“The inside still needs significant work,” Dumhart said. “I think the pressure’s on the property owner more than the city or the theater.”
Busk had demolished the interior to make way for future theaters that were never developed, Dumhart said.
Regency will need to furnish seats, fixtures and other features that make up a theater.
The cinema is planned to have three screens, along with an upstairs VIP lounge where alcohol will be served.
Golin said he expects the relatively small theater to do well.
“The little theaters in places like San Juan are still very viable,” he said.
Golin said movie box-office sales are up 20 percent this year overall. During difficult economic times, he said, people watch movies to escape. He said the opportunity to watch a movie among others can make people feel better during hard times.
“They want that communal experience, to go and be with other people,” Golin said. “A downtown theater that was once a proud and beautiful theater — we wanted to bring that back.”
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