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New Movie Theater Downtown


torgo

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In case anybody missed it, it was mentioned in another thread that there might be plans for a 14 screen theater behind the Van Andel Arena. Is there any truth to this? And if so, who has details?? We know you're out there... :ph34r:

I think someone inadvertantly let the cat out of the bag (so to speak), I doubt we'll hear anything more about it.

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If I were a betting man, I would look at the area between the Bank of Holland building and where they are planning to put Tall House. Not that there is enough room for a 14 screen theatre there, but maybe we need to look at this from a different perspective: Vertically. I spend quite a bit of time in NY and there are a couple of 5-8 floor theatres that are great! Screens are somewhat smaller, but the venue is unique and is part of the draw.

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If I were a betting man, I would look at the area between the Bank of Holland building and where they are planning to put Tall House. Not that there is enough room for a 14 screen theatre there, but maybe we need to look at this from a different perspective: Vertically. I spend quite a bit of time in NY and there are a couple of 5-8 floor theatres that are great! Screens are somewhat smaller, but the venue is unique and is part of the draw.

Yes, interesting thought Yankee Fan. there's a theater in Chicago a block or so off of Michigan on maybe Ohio St (?) that is on a small footprint and very tall. I think you even have to go to the second floor to get to the lobby, although it's been a couple of years and I don't know if it's still there.

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Yes, interesting thought Yankee Fan. there's a theater in Chicago a block or so off of Michigan on maybe Ohio St (?) that is on a small footprint and very tall. I think you even have to go to the second floor to get to the lobby, although it's been a couple of years and I don't know if it's still there.

Are you talking about the Esquire? (It is about one block off of Michigan, but about three blocks North of Ohio) If you are, I've been there as well. As for still existing, I think it still does, but in the near future there are plans to replace it wih another highrise development. Apparently it isn't doing very well from lack of good management.

The design is another oddity. A two story ticket lobby and restrooms were located on the first floor then there were escalators or stairs that took you up the third floor where three theaters and all of the concessions were located. The other three theaters were located on the floor above that. Because of space, all theaters were very small.

This layout resulted from a movie theater of this size being squeezed into the shell of an old performance theater. The exterior of the building (as seen on the link) is a remnant of the original thirties theater while nothing of what was probably a very grand theater remains on the inside.

Anyway, after all of that...I don't think that this is the best example of a multi-story, space concervative theater because of its layout. A new theater would be able to contained is a less constrained formation and resul in a more sensible design.

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I think that's the one, although I remember it being a little more modern :dontknow: It was right near where Disney had that place that went out of business. It's probably been longer ago then I'm thinking (maybe 6 - 8 years ago) :blush:

You're right. Theaters are getting smaller in order to be profitable, and stacking them might be a better way to go. I don't think going out to the movies will ever go totally out of style. You just can't beat stadium seating, popcorn, surround sound :shades:

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I think that's the one, although I remember it being a little more modern :dontknow: It was right near where Disney had that place that went out of business. It's probably been longer ago then I'm thinking (maybe 6 - 8 years ago) :blush:

You're right. Theaters are getting smaller in order to be profitable, and stacking them might be a better way to go. I don't think going out to the movies will ever go totally out of style. You just can't beat stadium seating, popcorn, surround sound :shades:

Mmmmmm....movie theater popcorn...drool.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...

Maybe a second IMAX theater would make more sense. I always thought it was weird that most large cities with IMAX have them in their DT area but ours is located way out on Knapp. I would think a DT one would be a much bigger atraction.

I agree. With all of the science related IMAX movies (the latest being about Mars), it would tie in nicely with a science museum.

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I agree. With all of the science related IMAX movies (the latest being about Mars), it would tie in nicely with a science museum.

Have any of you seen the IMAX and museum in Toronto? That IMAX blows every other IMAX away. The entire ceiling is the screen; it feels like you could reach out and touch it. The only problem is it's so disorienting you feel like throwing up until the show starts.

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Here's a bump for this thread...

I found this article about tough competition for the local movie theaters with the recent construction of two new facilities and opening within two months of eachother. Movie Theaters in Tough Competition with Eachother

A new theater downtown seems a little less likey to me.

What people always forget about downtown GR is that whatever is built there from here forward will have the unique distinction of being in the ONLY district in the metro area that has four distinct "captive audience" weekday user groups (i.e. - office workers <30,000>, college students <25,000>, daily visitors <5,000 - 10,000> and residents <5,000>). Having a captive audience of 60,000 to 70,000 daily users that demand services within downtown negates the otherwise true concern about movie theatre over-capacity (READ: WHILE IN DOWNTOWN, THOUGH 28TH STREET or ALPINE or EAST BELTLINE ARE ALL CLOSE BY, ONE WILL USE THE SAME SERVICE DOWNTOWN IF THERE IS A DOWNTOWN DUPLICATE THERE TO BE USED).

We will find this to be more the case and to downtown's advantage as the city and metro area around it get more amd more dense. ENJOY DOWNTOWN - it will never be dead again (it's too late for that now :) ). Speaking of LATE, I think I'll hang out downtown 'til 4:00 AM starting in February -WOO HOO!! :blink::D

-Metrogrkid

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Didn't the article only give it a 10% chance of happening?

Or so says Chris Knape. I'll agree with him that a theatre won't likely be built in the immediate future, but I wouldn't say never.

The movie biz isn't dead or dying. (Anyone who has tried to find a Celebration Cinema parking spot on the weekend can attest to that.) Of the downtown "captive audience" groups mentioned by metrogrkid, we'll soon see a spike in the numbers of residents and visitors (and perhaps office workers too, if towers go up). Naturally, a downtown theatre will follow, no?

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