Landmark Cinemas officially announced today that they will be building a new theatre at the Westminster Avenue property currently occupied by Liquidation World.
The property will be redeveloped as the home of a new, 24,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, seven-screen multiplex cinema. The theatre is slated to open in the spring of 2012. The existing Pen Mar Cinema will close on the opening of the new Landmark Cinema.
“Landmark Cinemas has been attempting to develop a new state-of-the-art cinema complex in Penticton for some time and we are pleased that this property acquisition provides us the opportunity to bring this facility to the residents of Penticton and area,” said Brian McIntosh, president of Landmark Cinemas of Canada. “The Landmark Cinema Penticton will become the entertainment destination for the South Okanagan, presenting the newest first-run movies and alternative entertainment content including opera, live theatre, concerts and sporting events.”
The new movie theatre will feature digital projection, full stadium seating in the seven auditoriums with 1,200 high-backed seats, digital sound and large curved screens. RealD 3D technology will also be installed.
Two restaurants are also slated to be located on the site.
“Because we have been delaying this too long the moment that the opportunity opened up downtown to revisit the downtown site we extracted ourselves from Channel Crossing. We are certain the Channel Crossing will continue and will proceed in due course once they get through the issues they have to deal with, but we just don’t want to wait for it. This new opportunity downtown let us have the cinema open many, many months before the Channel Crossing,” said McIntosh.
The project is being developed in conjunction with the Churchill International Property Corporation of Vancouver B.C. This is the same group that is managing the Landmark Cinemas that is opening on the Westbank First Nations property.
Liquidation World will close on Nov.1 and demolition of that building will commence shortly after to begin construction on the new theatre.
