Alcohol, food, recliners in theater plan

The AMC Theatres Chenal 9 in west Little Rock will be a dine-in theater in which patrons will be able to eat a meal and consume wine, beer or mixed drinks, according to an application to serve alcohol recently filed with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Administration Division.

The nine-screen theater complex at the Promenade on Chenal at 17835 Chenal Parkway is in the midst of a $3 million renovation that appears to be aimed at the same market as the Movie Tavern at the Gateway Town Center that opened earlier this year. At last word, the Chenal 9 is scheduled to reopen later this spring.

Mary Robin Casteel, the agency administrator, has yet to make a recommendation on the application, which was submitted March 8, said Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, of which Casteel’s agency is a part.

Once she does, her recommendation will go before the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which is scheduled to meet April 11.

Angela D. Steed submitted the application on behalf of AMC Theatres. She identified herself in the application as general manager of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews in Conway since January.

She also lists herself as general manager of YaYa’s Euro Bistro, which also is in the Promenade on Chenal Parkway.

In the past, Steed has run Twin Peak’s on Shackleford Road and Copeland’s of New Orleans at Shackleford Crossing.

She holds Alcoholic Beverage Control permits at all four establishments, according to the application.

AMC Theatres is applying for a large-attendance facility permit, which would give it the ability to serve beer, wine and mixed drinks, Hardin said.

The renovations will include 849 dine-in luxury recliners.

In the application, Steed said the complex will have an area in which patrons can obtain food that they can eat in their reserved recliner while watching a movie.

The complex also will be used to host corporate meetings in which employees will be able to dine and view corporate

presentations.

AMC Theatres, which is based in Leawood, Kan., is the largest movie chain in the world. It operates about 1,000 theaters with 11,000 screens around the globe, including more than 200 theatres in the United States. In Arkansas, it has theaters in Batesville, Bella Vista, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Harrison and Hot Springs.

The Chenal 9 complex has been closed since last summer when AMC acquired the complex from B&B Theatres of Gladstone, Mo.