Lawrence movie theater to undergo million dollar-plus renovation; update on plans for large music venue in North Lawrence

Everybody has their wish list for improvements that could be made to Lawrence’s Southwind movie theater on south Iowa Street. Yes, wider concourses to accommodate the forklift to haul back the popcorn and soda would be nice. An on-site loan office to finance the purchase of said popcorn and soda would be useful, too. Well, I don’t know that either of those improvements are coming, but a million dollar-plus renovation is in store for the city’s largest movie theater.

The city has issued a building permit for $1.5 million worth of interior renovation work at the Regal Cinema Southwind Stadium theater at 3433 Iowa St. It sounds like a conversion to reclining seats in all 12 theaters is a big part of the work, according to the details filed on the building permit report.

I haven’t had a chance to to talk with Regal officials yet, but I’ll try to do so later today. My understanding is there are some signs of the work underway, so I’ll pop in once the theater opens this afternoon.

In terms of other details that were listed on the building permit application, it talks about installing new finishes in all the auditoriums, as well in other parts of the building. At the moment, none of the plans call for major changes to the exterior of the building.

The project does answer one question that had been floating around in certain circles: Was the theater committed to remaining in that location? As the South Lawrence Trafficway gets completed later this year, the theater site becomes an even more prime location. The theater, it sure appears, has been losing business to newer, more modern theaters in Johnson County and at The Legends development in western Wyandotte County.

View Map

Regal bought the Southwind chain in 2013, which caused folks to think that a renovation of the theater would soon be on the way. But then it didn’t come. In the meantime, talk about other locations for a theater in Lawrence got kicked around. I know at one point the folks who want to redevelop the area near the Kansas River levee near Johnny’s Tavern had said they thought a movie theater would fit in very well with that development. I know I had started to wonder whether the Southwind site — perhaps combined with the mobile home park next door to it — might get redeveloped into a major retail area with lots of visibility from the SLT.

But now, it looks like the theater is here to stay — and with reclining seats, I may stay there a long time, too. (After 12-pounds of popcorn and a two-hour chick-flick, it is going to be hard to wake me up.)

I’ll let you known when I hear more details.

In other news and notes from around town:

• Speaking of updates, I have a brief one on the North Lawrence events center that I reported on last week.

As you may remember, I reported that plans have been filed for a new events center to locate in the industrial buildings at the northwest corner of the Kansas Turnpike and North Third Street intersection.

I was short on details of what type of events the center hopes to host, but now I’ve heard back from the proposed operator of the facility. Music events will be the center’s bread and butter, said Michael Westheffer.

Westheffer said the facility — which needs to still win zoning approval from the city — will be called Northern Sands Venue. He said he hopes the venue can grow into something similar to Knuckleheads, an an events venue that is located in an industrial district near the Missouri River in Kansas City, Mo.

“We want to create a place that is not just your everyday place,” said Westheffer, who is part of the family that owns the property that formerly housed a surplus store. “We want a place where you can come eat some food, have a good time. We want to create a next-level environment.”

View Map

Step No. 1 is getting the necessary commercial zoning for the property, which currently is zoned industrial. But Westheffer said future steps will include getting a liquor license for the property.

Westheffer said plans definitely call for both indoor and outdoor shows at the site. Westheffer said the center — which will be called Northern Sands Venue — doesn’t plan to limit itself on the type of music acts it brings in. Westheffer, who has about three years in the music production business, said rock, country, bluegrass and other genres are likely. He said the venue also will be open to hosting wedding receptions and other types of private events.

Westheffer said the fire department hasn’t yet set occupancy limits for the venture, but he hopes to have some outdoor shows that could accommodate 1,000, and some indoor shows of about 300. I’ll let you know how the project progresses through the city approval process.

Click here to see recent Town Talk columns