Comments on: Cinema Reps Make Their Pitch To Burien City Council

By: cheapNtacky

cheapNtacky — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:50:00 +0000

heh, actually, the Galaxy 8 has $2 movies and if you go on a Tuesday it’s only $1. Plus, if you take a luxury Metro bus just down the block you can further your entertainment dollars by experiencing the making of a real live action/drama flick!

I, for one, love the $2 movie theater in Federal Way. I’d never go to a $9 per person cinema unless it were some artsy fartsy Sundance or SIFF flick.

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:17:24 +0000

Has anyone seen the galaxy theatre in federal way? It’s a dump where they show 2nd run movies for three or four dollars. I think a ten screen theatre is absurd for Burien. Three or four as suggested by above poster would be optimal but god help us if it turns into a dirty dump like the one down south.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:27:32 +0000

I think the Artistic Director of the Burien Little Theater argues that we should subsidize a performing arts theater closer to the town square because it would attract people to nearby restaurants. Given the small scale of Burien and the theater I find it hard to believe the added restaurant business would offset the expenses, but I really have no idea what I’m talking about. A good model for comparison might be the Village Theatre in Issaquah.

By: Pauline

Pauline — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:22:22 +0000

It’s all about what will be profitable for the theater chain. I don’t think stages are very profitable, what with the months of set building and rehearsals culminating in what, 12 performances? It would be very nice to have a permanent home for live theater; maybe they can work something out, but it doesn’t sound profitable for the theater chain.

As for the rest of Town Square, a friend of mine is a developer in Texas, and he was explaining to me the complicated world of construction financing. It’s not like Urban Partners can just put out a big banner saying “Prices Slashed.” The bank or banks that provided the construction loans have a lot of say in the pricing, and if the bank’s or banks’ assets were lost or moved in the financial meltdown, it could be quite a while before Urban Partners can cut prices depending upon who is holding the paper now.

It’s just unfortunate that the condos were completed after the meltdown. I would think it particularly sucks for Urban Partners, who has invested a lot, by all appearances, and is not getting any return yet. I hope they are able to work through any obstacles and reduce the prices sooner rather than later.

By: Tcb

Tcb — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:10:22 +0000

If it’s modeled after the Ballard neighbourhood theater it’s a no brainer. Three or four screens I think. 10 seems like a lot. I like the idea of getting Burien Little Theatre to use some of the Theater space, I remember that there was a Theater that had a “stage” around here somewhere, I think in SeaTac. I don’t know if they’d do it though… I hope that something happens to the space to revitalize interest in the development but will reserve judgement until more concrete plans and arrangements are made.

By: Catherine Rogers

Catherine Rogers — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:17:47 +0000

I agree. Burien LIttle Theatre needs a new space. Locating it in the New Town Center would boost attendance and help local businesses. If it is allowed to grow it might even become a mecca for out of towners getting off planes at Sea Tac and heading to Burien. A movie theatre would probably be okay but it must compete with South Centers/Westfield’s.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:12:03 +0000

My understanding is that Southcenter killed 152nd in the 60’s… and Southcenter is still there. This plan to turn Burien into a commercially relevant district seemed like a long shot to begin with, and early indicators are that it’s failing. The condos are not attracting the affluent urbanites they had hoped for. And now the city is entertaining some cineplex salesmen that want to dig the hole even deeper?

By: Pauline

Pauline — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:04:35 +0000

That would be a little hard to do considering the City does not own the condos — how can it rent out something it doesn’t own?

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:12:03 +0000

LOL “Councilman Gordon Shaw said he is “skeptical” because Urban Partners needs “to consider the impact on a change of plans (for Town Square) as well as the impact of moving ahead … there needs to be balance.””
Just when I am deciding to like Mr. Shaw- He puts a foot in his mouth. What balance is there now with no commercial lessers in the town square? Personally I would give up on Urban Partners, rent out the condos, and do everything i could to attract new business to the town square building.

By: Eric Dickman

Eric Dickman — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:36:02 +0000

Burien Little Theatre currently presents 19 weekends of live theater programming a year. BLT knows from questionnaire responses that a large portion of its audience go to local restaurants before or after the shows. BLT has also joined with a local restaurant to provide an evening of dinner and a show at a package rate.

BLT also knows that a majority of its online ticket sales come from outside the Burien area. The bulk of those patrons are from Seattle, Bellevue/Kirkland and Kent/Renton, but patrons also come from up and down the I-5 corridor between Vancouver, B.C. and Portland. With a more modern midsized dedicated performing arts space Burien could well be a place airline passengers could spend a pleasant evening before the next day’s flight.

Studies throughout King County and elsewhere show that arts patrons spend more money than sports patrons when they go to an event. Arts patrons rarely have dinner at the event (no hot dogs or pizza at a play). Instead, they eat at a restaurant close to the arts event so they are not caught in traffic and miss the beginning of the event.

While BLT has been in what is now the community center for 29 seasons, BLT would be happy to be included in discussions about a theater space in or around Town Square.

Eric Dickman
Artistic Director for Burien Little Theatre