Granite City Theatre Project Moves Forward

It looks like the theatre* project here in Granite City is continuing. I wasn't sure what to think about it at first. But now I'm getting a little excited.

When our Mayor Ed Hagnauer (who I have a lot of respect for, and who I know through our church) commented last month to a TV news crew that he didn't know what a feasibility study was or if one had been done for the theatre, I thought it was pretty ridiculous and wasn't thrilled about our city spending millions to build a city-owned theatre that we didn't even know if people would come to.

We lost our two-screen theatre about five years ago as development started on the new Nameoki Commons. That land is now occupied by our Applebees. According to the Belleville News-Democrat article:

The largest screen will seat 247 people and will be the metro-east's only 3-D screen. The second screen will seat 158 and the third 112. It will be located at Niedringhaus and Delmar, across the street from the triangular Civic Park.

The first-run movie house will cost about $4 million to build, including the architectural design fees. The money will be paid from the downtown tax increment financing fund. It will be owned by the city and managed by St. Louis Cinemas for $150,000 a year on a two-year contract, renewable in one-year terms.

St. Louis Cinemas operates the Chase Park Plaza and St. Louis Galleria theaters.

Mayor Hagnauer is quoted as saying: "We're trying to be aggressive... We're trying to build
our downtown, and one thing we've always had up until four years ago
was a theater." The hope is to create foot traffic and kickstart a revitalization of Granite City's downtown, which Hagnauer described as "desolate." It's a way to make Granite City more sustainable and less dependent on the ailing steel mills, Hagnauer said.

I like that spirit and sentiment. As the economy has continued its collapse around us, I've become more and more a believer that those who will work to build their own world are going to continue to succeed, and that will be the big differentiating factor as we head forward. Granite City working to build its own theatre, its own downtown, and its own destiny - without relying on outside companies, developers, or chains - is admirable, in my opinion.

"We hope we're on the verge of something big," Hagnauer said.

I look forward to being able to ride bikes with the boys the few blocks from our house to a little neighborhood with a theatre, a coffee shop, and some nice stores. Let's build it!

* PS: Yes, I will continue to spell it "theatre", the proper spelling, even though the BND article insists on spelling it "theater" and Movable Type keeps telling me that it's spelled wrong. It's a quirk of mine since my speech & theatre days.

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