Moviegoers, it seems, are finally getting their wish: a state of the art movie theatre in Fort McMurray.
The Centron Group has announced in a press release it will move ahead with the development of Phase 1 of the Eagle Ridge Retail Centre.
“In addition to many familiar restaurants and services, the Landmark Cinema, is long awaited and welcome to Fort McMurray,” stated the press release. “It will provide movie-goers with the best experience the cinema world has to offer.”
Bill Walker, COO of Landmark Cinemas, who said they have wanted to build a new theatre in Fort McMurray for years, confirmed that. The reality is now closer than ever.
Walker told MyMcMurray the company is committed to building a higher-calibre theatre in town, likely at Eagle Ridge.
“What we’re looking to bring to market there is actually going to be really interesting and it’s going to be something that I think will impress the theatre goers in Fort McMurray,” said Walker.
The theatre will feature ten screens with 1,100 seats including new motorized fully reclining seats with a footrest.
“If you could picture walking into an auditorium and seeing 100 La-Z-Boy recliners that’s what you’ll see in what we’ll plan to build in Fort McMurray. Therefore, it has intended to be for everyone. It’s not about creating an exclusive, adult, 19 plus, to your seat service but it’s about taking the traditional movie-going experience, big screens, big sound, big stadium seating, and putting in the most comfortable chair that you’ve ever seen in a movie theatre,” said Walker.
The screens will be over 25 feet tall and span wall to wall while the theatre will feature the latest in digital projection and sound.
The full Centron project will offer 245,000 square feet of retail development. Timelines for development, though, are still up in the air.
“The reality is to build a movie theatre takes a year. From the time, you get your shovel in the ground you are probably a year before you are selling any tickets. Depending on what the timeline is from a development approval and permitting perspective in the city of Fort McMurray and how the developer approaches the project, those things will determine the front end. It could easily be six to 12 months before Centron is approved for a development permit and then before you’re shovel-ready and ready to go you’re looking at another 12 months to get a movie theatre built and open,” said Walker.
He said it would still be a while before tickets are selling in Fort McMurray but they remain focused on certainty in the market and in determining where the location will be so they can move forward with development.
He said the company isn’t 100 per cent married to the specific location within Fort McMurray and would consider the downtown location on the lands originally expropriated for the cancelled Sports and Entertainment Centre.
“Whichever one gets shovels in the ground first and ultimately has economics that work. We think the right project, most efficient project for us as a theatre operator is going to be the Eagle Ridge development that Centron’s putting together and we think just based on the development cycle and where that stands that, realistically, the Centron site will also come to market sooner,” said Walker.
He said Landmark does have an existing agreement with Centron and said they are ready to make a lease and move forward with the development. In all likelihood, the Eagle Ridge development will be the location for the theatre. Walker said Landmark did discuss the possibility of the downtown location when it was approved in principal by council, but said there are several reasons that location is less favourable.
“One of the challenges there is there’s very few theatres being built in downtown cores anymore. With parking that’s required at a movie theatre, and with the requirement to maintain free parking in most movie theatres that we look at, it is going to be really tough for a movie theatre to become feasible in the downtown core,” he said, reiterating that it has not been fully ruled out but does present more challenges.
“The Fort McMurray market is kind of geared for one proper theatre and once we get, if we get to move forward with the Eagle Ridge development, which we’re really confident is going to happen, it’s likely that the city will need to be focused on alternative uses for that land,” he said.
There is still no official plan for the fate of the downtown Cinema 6 theatre in the year-and-a-half to two-year period when the new theatre expects to up and running.
“We’ve known the community needed and deserved a new theatre and that’s one of the challenges when you know you’re planning to replace your current asset it’s tough to invest heavily in the current asset when, really, your overall strategic plan is to replace it,” he said.
There is the potential to keep the theatre operating as a value-based theatre, second-run or a different use for the land in the downtown core, according to Walker. Landmark owns the land and the building so Walker said it is efficient to operate right now.
