With
the swipe of a saber, the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet movie theater
reopened Thursday after more than a month of renovations.
Alamo
Drafthouse Cinema founder and CEO Tim League celebrated his first
Kansas City movie theater, which is at 14th and Main streets in
Downtown, by helping local officials use a saber to open champagne
bottles.
The
renovations to the theater, formerly run by AMC Entertainment Inc.,
included eliminating the front ticketing desk, installing dine-in seats
for all six screens and expanding the kitchen. The expanded food service
also increased the number of employees to 90.
“We’re
thrilled that you’ve been breathing life into this fabulous building,”
said Mike Hurt, marketing director of the Downtown Council of Kansas
City.
The
renovations reduced the number of seats, but League said he prefers to
make the whole theater uniform by offering food at all screens. The
largest theater, No. 1, lost 100 seats, dropping to 197. But the
renovations are meant to improve the viewing experience.
“We want this to be an oasis for movie-lovers,” he said.
Alamo’s
signature is pairing interesting menu items with its movies; it’s
hosting a spaghetti western night with a spaghetti feast. With the
December release of the Hobbit, the kitchen will prepare an 11-course
Shire-themed menu.
It
also hosts a number of events besides showing mainstream movies, such
as quote-alongs, action packs and girlie nights. “Old School,” “Bridget
Jones’ Diary” and “R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet” are on tap for the
next week at the theater.
The
response to the Drafthouse so far has been good, League said. People
still are curious about the new brand, so for the grand opening, it will
be “a bright shiny penny” for new patrons.
The
upstairs theaters, Nos. 4-6, seat far fewer moviegoers and align with
the theater’s mission to cater to private events. Also fitting into that
plan is the Chesterfield, the movie theater’s bar space, as well as its
mezzanine area.
How
those areas fare will determine whether and when Alamo proceeds on a
second renovation phase. Possibilities for that phase include renovating
the former concessions area to offer more beers and making changes to
the Chesterfield and mezzanine. The theater has a number of holiday
parties already scheduled, so how those work in the space will show
League what needs to stay the same or be changed.
At
this point, League has no concrete plans for expanding Alamo’s presence
in Kansas City. First, the Mainstreet theater must prove itself
financially viable. Then, the real estate must be available. But League
said if things pan out, he’d be interested in more local theaters.
The
Mainstreet theater originally operated under the AMC brand in
partnership with Kansas City Power & Light District manager The
Cordish Co. AMC left the venture in June, and Alamo signed a lease with
Cordish.
