Multiplex Project Clears Key Hurdles

The City Council has cleared three additional hurdles, paving the way for construction of a downtown multiplex theater to begin as early as March.

The council voted unanimously Monday night to condemn five storefronts in the 500 block of Main Street to make way for the 10-screen theater.

They also approved a report saying the theater project had no negative environmental impacts that could not be overcome.

And they voted to move forward with a three-way agreement between the city, the Redevelopment Agency, and the developer--Ventura Multi-Cinema LLC--to clearly delineate who will do what to lessen the negative environmental effects caused by construction of either the theater or the four-story parking structure that will go up on a city-owned lot on Santa Clara Street.

City Redevelopment Manager Pat Richardson called the three decisions “very significant� for the theater project.

“We need to have environmental clearance to move forward,� he said. “And the resolution [to condemn if necessary] locks Century Theaters into the deal.�

Richardson said that until the council decided to purchase--or condemn if necessary--the property, the cinema operator, Century Theaters, could have terminated its lease if someone else had opened a theater within five miles of downtown.

Richardson said the city hopes to reach an agreement on a purchase price for 535, 565, 569, 577 and 597 E. Main Street by February, and to have possession of the properties by March.