New Cineplex offers theatre catering to young families
Centre Mall complex includes kids’ play apparatus, automated seats for adults
The movie-going experience in Saskatoon now includes soft-serve ice cream, reclining seats and a playful theatre designed for families with young children.
Theseven-screen,30,000-squarefoot Cineplex Cinemas complex at the Centre Mall opens Friday.
Six of the seven theatre auditoriums feature comfortable, automated reclining seats and more space to move in and out of seats.
“This community is very, very excited,” said Cineplex spokeswoman Sarah Van Lange during a tour for The Starphoenix on Thursday.
She said she has helped open theatres across Canada for more than four years and called the anticipation “unique to this community.”
The new complex replaces the seven-screen Centre Cinemas, which closed last weekend. Rainbow Cinemas, the second-run complex at the Centre Mall, will be forced out when its lease expires in the spring due to an exclusivity contract with Cineplex.
Jason Willms, Cineplex executive director of operations for Saskatchewan and northern Alberta, said the new theatres will attract some of the same people who go to the downtown Scotiabank Cineplex.
He said the chain, which has more than 160 complexes in Canada, is confident the 15-screen downtown location will still thrive. It has been renovated and upgraded in recent years.
“There’s math to all of the investment decisions that have been made,” Van Lange said.
The previous theatres employed about 20 full- and part-time staff, but the new complex will have about 68. The regular price for a movie has also jumped, to $12.99 for an adult ticket.
The concession stand features soft ice cream with toppings and fresh-made pizza that cooks in four minutes or less, as well as popcorn and soda.
A games area features pinball, mini-basketball and the original video game Pong, which Van Lange said has been popular during tours.
The family theatre, which will show children’s movies, features multicoloured seating and a playground apparatus on the side.
“We’re still protecting the movie-going experience,” Van Lange said. “This is about providing people options.”
The largest theatre has 220 seats, about one-third of the 667 seats in the entire complex.