By KENNETH HART
CANNONSBURG — The new 10-screen, stadium-seating theater at Kyova Mall will make its public debut Friday.
Phoenix Theatres 10, located in what used to be the Phar-Mor building at the front of the mall, will begin showing movies at 11:15 a.m.
The highly anticipated summer blockbuster “Shrek the Third” will be showing on four screens, while “Spider-Man 3” will be playing on three. Features playing on the remaining screens will be “Delta Farce,” “Georgia Rule” and “Disturbia.”
“We are so excited,” Kyova Mall Manager Karen Dillow said. “This has been so many years in the making for this area. It’s kind of like we can’t believe it’s finally happening.”
Dillow said she believed the theater’s opening would be an enormous step in the continuing rebound of the once-troubled mall, which used to be known as Cedar Knoll Galleria.
“We feel like that once the theater opens, it’s going to open the door to so much more opportunity for the mall,” she said. “We’re hoping that it will bring in new people who haven’t been here since the new management took over and all the improvements were made. We think it will really change their perceptions.”
The new cineplex will feature a number of amenities designed to maximize the movie-going experience. In addition to the stadium-style seating, those features include rocking-chair seats with lift-up cupholder armrests, digital surround sound and curved, wall-to-wall screens.
“That way, even if you are sitting on the far left or far right, the screen still looks like you’re sitting smack-dab in the middle,” Dillow said.
The concession stand will offer Dippin Dots ice cream, and the building also includes a large video arcade.
Dillow said mall management and Phoenix Theatres — a privately owned company based in Knoxville, Tenn., that operates theaters in six states and Washington, D.C. — had planned all along to have the cinema open in time for the summer movie blockbuster season.
She said there was some disappointment about missing the opening weekend for “Spider-Man 3.” However, she said there are still plenty of big movies to come — including the final installment in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy, which opens May 24.
The opening of Phoenix Theatres will give the Ashland area a total of 23 movie screens. Phoenix and Cinemark Movies 10, across from Ashland Town Center, each have 10 screens showing first-run movies. Midtown Cinema has three screens that play second-run films.
In addition to the theater, Dillow said a new food court tenant, Grab-N-Go, a hot dog vendor, would be opening soon.
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.
