Imagine stepping off the City of Poughkeepsie's Main Street and walking towardThe Chance Theater.
For years the venuehas been a hub for nighttime activity downtown, but tonightit's not your destination. Movies are waiting in a cineplex next door.
As you step inside, posters for the latest blockbustersgreet you. You order tickets at the electronic kiosk, selecting yourseats.
Big, red, reclining, leather chairs fillthe theater. Attached trays can be used for a classic snack like popcorn, or a proper dinner off a menu that includes sandwiches, pizzas and entrees.A drink menu, too, ranges from soda to beer to co*cktails. That is, if you didn't already get your fill at the accompanying dining and bar area located outside of the theater.
This could be reality.Bow Tie Cinemas is considering developing an $11 million, 40,000-square-foot movie theater in the Queen City's downtown. It would be the third-largest movie theater in Dutchess County.
Located in a section of the Crannell Street parking lot, it would bejust steps away from other development projects like Queen City Lofts and The Trolley Barn, which officials hope can revitalize the city.
Mayor Rob Rolison touted the development as "a tremendous addition to the downtown area." The project would bring jobs to the region through construction and ultimately the operation of the theater, and is expected to boost tourism.
However, local residents are mixed on the proposal. Some imagine a different experience:
Traffic backing up the westbound arterial leading to the property.
Extra cars rendering parking spaces scarce.
Or, the eventuality of another vacant building.
But before any of that can happen,the city's common council must vote on whether to accept adeal with Bow Tie,allowing the company to perform a study of the proposed site on part of the Crannell Street parking lot to ensure it would be a feasible location for a theater, and giving them exclusive rights to the space for six months.
And, there are questions to be answered.An adjacent development in the other half of the Crannell space would erase even more of the lot, and both projects would require hundreds of additional parking spaces.
Bow Tie Cinemas did not return calls or emails from the Journal.
Paul Calogerakis, the city's economic development director, gave the initial pitch on the project at a June 17 common council meeting, and the city administration requested the common council place the matter on the agenda for its Monday meeting.
Bow Tie Cinemas, then and now
Bow Tie Cinemas differentiates itself from other movie theaters in the area through its assigned seating and posh chairs.Bow Tie also serves as a restaurant and bar, allowing guests to order meals along with snacks, as well as beer, wine and co*cktails.
Bow Tie Cinemas was founded in 1900 byBenjaminMoss. The chain initially served as nickelodeon theaters before shifting to Vaudeville performances and, finally, movie theaters in 1936, according to the Bow Tie Cinemas website.
The chain features 36 theaters across the Northeast as well as Colorado, Maryland and Virginia.
The Poughkeepsie proposalcalls for a nine-screen cinema. Among Dutchess' theaters, it would be smaller only than Regal's theaters in the Poughkeepsie Galleria (16 screens) and Fishkill (10).
The project would create about 50 construction jobs, and the finished theater would employfive full-time managers and 35 part-time workers, according toCalogerakis.
And Bow Tie Cinemas is projected to draw 300,000 visitors to the city annually,Calogerakis said.
"Obviously there would be a great ancillary economic benefit to the downtown area," he said.
A group of city officials, includingCalogerakis, City Administrator Marc Nelson and council membersLorraine Johnson and ChrisPetsas, toured the Bow Tie Cinemas ofNorwalk, Connecticut, to get a better idea of the theater's layout.
Petsas said he was impressed by what he saw and believes it could be a major boon to the area.
"This could bring back the idea of downtown Poughkeepsie as a destination for people," he said.
Early stages of development
Before this could move forward, Bow Tie requested a six-month exclusivity deal to come up with a proposal for the development. This would include whether Bow Tie plans to purchase or lease the space.
"They would need to spend between $50,00 and $75,000 in due diligence and feasibility studies to determine whether this works for them,"Calogerakis said.
Bow Tie also agreed to pay for a fiscal consultant for the city to assess the theater's local impact.
But with developerKen Kearney planning to develop apartments in the other half of the parking lot, both Kearney and Bow Tie will need to incorporate parking to balance out the loss of the lot,Calogerakis said.
Calogerakis estimated a need for a 300-car parking lot to handle the impact of the two developments, but he said both Kearney and Bow Tie would accommodate this need in their development proposals.
"We have talked to Ken and we have talked to Bow Tie, and the two of them are in full agreement that they can come together and figure out a way to solve the parking problem for us there," he said
While the parking available between the two developments might be "slightly less" than 300 spots, Nelson said the site would be able to accommodate parking to help make up for the loss of the lot.
"I think there are some obvious synergies between the two projects, and so there are opportunities— particularly as we address the parking part of the equation — for innovative approaches," Nelson said.
City residents torn
The proposal for a Bow Tie Cinemas drew mixed reactions from city residents.
Shari McClearn is concerned the project could mean another abandoned building in the city, questioning it the county can support another theater.
"Whyopen another? Then, when it does fail, will it be another empty eyesore of a building, or is there a plan for that, too?" she asked.
Tom Lawrence felt the movie theater would help with the city's revitalization.
"It appears that the City of Poughkeepsie is primed for a renaissance, but folks who live in the core of the city will want places to eat and shop and things to do," he said.
Doug Nobiletti supports the project but worries about its viability in competing with the nearby Regal Cinema at the Poughkeepsie Galleria. He's also worried about the impact it would have on local parking.
"If the theater is bringing something unique and special, let's make sure it's successful," he said. "But parking in the city is already an issue, and I imagine this will onlyexacerbate it."
Geoffrey Wilson: gwilson@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4882, Twitter: @GeoffWilson_
