Monday, April 19, 2010

NEW CRESTVIEW MOVIE THEATER PLANS TO OPEN ON MEMORIAL DAY

This is going to be the biggest thing to hit Crestview in a long time. This is part of a huge commercial shopping center on the Northside of Crestview, just a few blocks from the High School. It is already attracting a number of businesses to the shopping center and I expect the folks of Crestview will save on a lot of gas, not having to travel to Destin to see a quality movie or some of shopping choices.

New movie theater could open Memorial Day weekend
Marquis 10 Cinema is accepting job applications this week
By BRIAN HUGHES
Florida Freedom Newspapers
CRESTVIEW — Owners of the Marquis 10 Cinema have announced through its Facebook page that employment applications will be accepted today through Friday. That’s good news for potential employees. The question others want answered is, when will it open? Crestview developer Jack Jernigan, a local partner with theater owner Nels Offerdahl, said winter rains have pushed the opening beyond the original mid-April target. Jernigan now hopes for an opening by Memorial Day weekend. “They would like to be open in the weeks of the opening of ‘Ironman,’ the expected early summer blockbuster,” Jernigan said. “They’ll be close. They are working overtime to have it opened at the end of May.” The Marquis’ Facebook page states applications will be accepted at the construction trailer on the site from 2 to 6 p.m. each day this week. Applications can be downloaded from http://movieshowtime.net/application.pdf  . Offerdahl, who also owns theaters in Gulf Breeze and Pace, said the cinema expects to employ 40 to 45 people during the peak summer film season. “Most of those are usually high school or college kids,” Offerdahl said. “We’re very seasonal. We’re opening this thing stepping right into the season.”
Offerdahl said when business slows in the fall, employment will drop to about 30 workers. That will pick up slightly during the Christmas season before falling again in winter and early spring.
Marquis 10 will show p r i m a r i l y f i r s t - r u n features, Offerdahl said, with the possibility of older or indie films shown during slower times, particularly if a film has generated a lot of pre-Academy Award or Golden Globe buzz.
Wi t h t h r e e l a r g e auditoriums, plus medium and small screens, the theater will seat 1,750 people, Jernigan said. There also will be an arcade and a private birthday party room.
Offerdahl also promised a state-of-the-art cinema-going experience.
“We’ll be digital and 3-D -capable on three screens,” he said.
Paving for the cinema and the adjacent Twin Creeks Shopping Center has just begun.
Construction on the retail center should begin in June, Jernigan said.
“We have a lot of stuff going in,” Jernigan said. “It’s all going to turn out great. It’s going to be a great place for people to come and hang.”

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