St. Albert residents will no longer have to travel to Edmonton to take in a film.
Landmark Cinemas and Melcor Developments Ltd. announced Thursday that an eight-auditorium movie theatre will be coming to St. Albert in summer 2018.
Many residents expressed excitement upon hearing the news, including Gerry Dombroski, who believes a movie theatre is a great addition to St. Albert’s economy.
“I like that we can do more and more locally,” he said. “I believe in supporting the local (business) community, so I’d happily go here. I love that we’re getting more restaurants. We don’t feel like we have to go to Edmonton to go out for supper.”
A movie theatre is one of the services identified in the city's 2013 Retail Market Analysis, with three per cent of respondents indicating the need for one in the community.
Young people especially have been vocal in trying to get a theatre back in the community, said Mayor Nolan Crouse.
St. Albert counted two movie theatres until the closure of the Village Tree Mall facility in 2000. The remaining Grandin Theatres closed in May 2014 after landlord Amacon decided to pursue its Grandin Park Plaza mall redevelopment.
Crouse said the city has been in contact with different movie theatre organizations over the years, but that the timing and/or location were never right.
He was happy that Melcor and Landmark Cinemas were able to reach a deal.
But the news has left some residents skeptical. Justin Kidd questions the sustainability of an eight-plex in St. Albert.
“We’ve had two theatres in my lifetime, they’ve both flopped,” said Kidd. “It depends on what kind of theatre they bring in. If it’s like Cineplex on 137 Street those seem to last better and are more taken care of.”
Landmark Cinemas is the second largest motion theatre company in Canada and has 44 theatres throughout Western Canada, Ontario and the Yukon.
The St. Albert theatre will feature reclining seats designed by La-Z-Boy. As a result seating capacity is limited. The theatre will count approximately 880 seats, which is “lower than most theatres,” admits Bill Walker, Landmark Cinemas chief operations officer.
“The recliners take up significantly more room, providing more personal space but reduces the total count,” he explained.
Landmark Cinemas will also offer a reserved seating option to patrons.
Some residents on social media raised concerns about potential ticket costs given these amenities.
“Great. How about instead of premium theatres we go back to affordable theatres,” wrote Michelle Grant in a Facebook post.
The theatre will act as an anchor tenant for the Jensen Lakes Crossing shopping centre, planned for the corner of Jensen Lake Boulevard and the St. Albert Trail, directly adjacent to the north of the Home Depot site.
A development permit has not yet been granted for the project. Dan Eggert, regional manager for property development at Melcor, hopes to file the application next month.
Construction is expected to begin in April 2017 and take 14 months.
The movie theatre should be open ahead of the 2018 summer blockbuster season.
Kidd’s teenage daughter Jaime indicated that she would be amongst the crowd once the new theatre opens.
