River Cinema expansion set to begin in East Grand Forks, MN

The River Cinema in East Grand Forks will soon begin a long-discussed expansion project, the owner said today.

Bob Moore said there are still some technical issues to work out — he needs to finish up paperwork and get final approvals before construction can begin to add three more screens to the movie theater. But he expected that to happen sometime in late January or early February.

“It’s all a go with the city,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting in there and starting to tear it apart.”

NEXT STEPS

Moore said an architect is currently drawing up blueprints for the expansion, which will include two big auditoriums that will each have 250 to 300 seats. He guessed the third screen would end up with 120 to 150 seats, but said he won’t be sure until construction is further along.

“That depends on how the room ends up when we’re done,” he said.

He has sent in health plans for a new kitchen as part of the project, and Moore said the city is ready to sign the final papers after working out some more details.

If construction crews rushed, the new screens could be open to the public by May. But he said he wouldn’t set a specific date for opening because he will try to get most of the construction done without hiring out the labor.

“I would say it would be open for sure November 2010,” he said, which would be in time for the Christmas season. “We could have it open sooner if we felt the need.”

But Moore would prefer to do the work “a little more relaxed” and said he won’t rush the project. “I’m going to take it a little slower and just pay for it as I go,” he said.

Crews will have to finish demolition of the now-vacant space in the Riverwalk Centre before the new theaters can start to take shape, and some of the work might not be finished “in the dead of winter,” he said.

PROJECT COSTS

Moore said he’s planning to pay for most of the expansion out of River Cinema’s profits, but said he would likely have to take out a smaller loan for the remaining costs.

“I can really save a lot of expense doing a good percentage of it ourselves,” he said.

Even saving on labor costs doesn’t make it a cheap project. Moore said adding the three screens would probably cost a total of $500,000 to $700,000, including seats, projectors and other necessary parts of a movie theater.

But that’s not bad compared to the national average expansion cost per screen of about $1 million, he said.

“Hiring everything out is murder,” he said. “That’s what forces the big theaters to have to charge what they charge. You have to recoup that somewhere.”

River Cinema has seen a fast-growing customer base since opening in December 2007, and Moore said the existing 12 screens aren’t enough to keep up with demand anymore. “We need those screens,” he said. “It just sends more people to my competitor if I can’t get them seats.”

He said customers are getting anxious for more screens. “We’re anxious to get going,” he said. “They are anxious. I’ve got people asking us everyday.”

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