After 34 years, downtown Arkadelphia may once again have a theater. The Royal theater, originally opened in 1932, is expected to reopen thanks to initiative taken by the city.
“I know ever since I’ve been mayor when I go to the schools and talk about city government I keep hearing ‘I wish we had a theater,’” said Arkadelphia Mayor Chuck Hollingshead. “We’ve had numerous people come in and like to put in one but by the time they [would have] purchased the land to put it on they wouldn’t have the financing to build the theater.”
The city decided to take on the task, and the building, now Print Mania, is going to be renovated into a one screen, 200-seat movie theater that plays sub first run movies, movies that have been out of first run theaters for about one to three months, every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Currently the only way people in Arkadelphia can enjoy the movie-going experience is to travel to surrounding cities like Benton, Little Rock and Hot Springs which take nearly an hour to reach. Having a movie theater in Arkadelphia will save residents the gas money needed to get to the other movie theaters, and the ticket price for the Royal is expected to be $6, much less than the $8 or more that some other movie theaters charge.
The city has decided to take no profits for itself but instead put all profits into running the business. Any overages will be put into an account to cover special needs of the theater and fund upgrades to the equipment and building. The mayor said the establishment would be run very professionally.
“Right now there is not another place to go [for entertainment,]”said Jimmy Bolt, Arkadelphia city manager.
“Hopefully it [the theater] will spur other operations around it.”
The prospect of a movie theater downtown has already started to revitalize downtown Arkadelphia.
“[The theater plans] were one of the reasons Dino’s choose that location,” Bolt said. “The [Spirit] Art Gallery heard about it and wanted to be somewhere that would be alive [with people.]”
However, the Royal’s plans are not finalized yet, as an Arkadelphia City Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, Feb. 18, will have an impact on whether or not the development should go ahead. Concerns over the economy and allocation of resources will be addressed then.
“At the time that we approved that ordinance it was [approved with a] 6-1 [vote,]” Hollingshead said. “Since then some of the board members decided that we might not need to spend that much money. We’re kind of at a stand still until the bonds are sold and then we can do the ordinance. I encourage anybody and everybody to not only turn on channel nine to watch the meeting on TV but also to come down to the actual boardroom and chat.”
If the ordinance is approved, the Royal could be open by 2011.
For more information about the Royal theater business plan, visit www2.cityofarkadelphia.com:8080/CityOfArkadelphia/royal-theatre-business-plan.
By Leah Garavelli, News/Features Editor
