Henderson Oracle

Issue date: 2/1/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Judea Jackson On location - Print Mania stands on Main Street in the spot where the Royal Theater will soon stand, if all goes according to plan. The new movie theater, scheduled to open in January 2011, will be run by the City of Arkadelphia rather than a private business. Two architectural firms, French Architects of Hot Springs and Twin Rivers Architecture of Arkadelphia, are competing to design the space.

For the better part of a decade,
rumors have circulated of a new movie theater coming
to Arkadelphia.

Now it seems that this mythic theater is finally being
built, thanks to the City Council of Arkadelphia.

The Royal Theater, named after the original downtown Arkadelphia theater built in 1932, will take over the current
location of Print Mania.

Wesley Kluck, chairman of the Clark County Strategic Plan, said, "The City of Arkadelphia
bought their building
since it was the old Royal Theater in the past."

The City Council planned for a city-owned theater back in 2008.

The theater is expected to open in January of 2011.

Regarding why it has taken
so long to get a new theater
in Arkadelphia, Kluck said, "Private investors have looked into running a theater,
but it was never shown to be able to make a profit - that's why the City of Arkadelphia
chose to run it more as a service to the residents - like the aquatic park run by the city."

The theater will show new films a week or two after their initial releases.

Movie studios take extra money from ticket sales of movies during their opening weekends, so the possibility of the Royal showing films a little later would help save money.

"It will really be much sooner than when they are coming out on DVD," said Kluck. Special events like student film exhibitions or films festivals are possible as well.

The theater will have a single
screen.

Estimates for the theater's construction have varied little,
but City Manager Jimmy Bolt guesses low.

Continued...

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