Big changes for Palmerston North cinema complex
Downtown Cinema has gone through behind the scenes changes this week as its new owner Event Cinemas takes over.
The biggest change for moviegoers is the introduction of numbered seating, replacing the freefor-all of old.
The cinema was closed for parts of the day on Thursday and Friday as Downtown hooked into Event’s national ticketing system.
Event New Zealand general manager Carmen Switzer said new point of sales and ticketing equipment was installed and the theatre giant took the opportunity to do some maintenance as well.
‘‘It’s a back-of-house systems change over. The only difference customers will notice is that they can book tickets through the main Event website now.’’
The changes would make it easier to use Event Cinemas’ vouchers and reward programme at Downtown, Switzer said.
Palmerston North businessman Bill Wallace started the Downtown Cinemas chain in the city with New Zealand’s first multi-screen cinema complex in 1990, before later expanding into Havelock North and Paraparaumu.
He sold the business to the Australian-owned Event Cinemas in June.
At the time, Wallace told the Standard the transition would be seamless for movie-goers, with all Downtown vouchers and multipasses still honoured by the new owners.
Despite the changes, Switzer said Event Cinemas was retaining the Downtown Cinema branding for now and wouldn’t be making any changes to the film programme.
That included the more arthouse films shown at its Rialto theatre.
Palmerston North film buffs have been without a dedicated arthouse complex since Downtown Cinema Gold fired up its projectors for the last time in August. Boutique cinema chain Focal Point’s owners Matt and Julie Bell said the closure opened a gap in the market and they have announced they are adding a Palmerston North complex to their cinemas in Feilding, Levin and Hastings.
Matt Bell said the new Focal Point would be opened in mid-2017, but he won’t yet reveal the location for legal reasons. ‘‘[But] the design work and everything is coming along nicely. It should be open well before this time next year.’’
The cinema wasn’t the only part of Downtown undergoing change. Its new food court, the 42nd Street Eatery, was due to open this month, after delays set it back more than a year from it’s original mid-2015 planned opening.
Greg Key, the shopping centre’s manager, said there was still a few bits and pieces to be finished off, including the installation of refrigeration equipment, but the new food court was on track to open on December 16. ‘‘It’s looking pretty good. We’ve progressed a long way over the past couple of months, but it’s always hard getting contractors at this time of year.’’