Marcus Theatres has withdrawn its request to expand its complex and build an IMAX ultra-screen theater at La Grange Road and 163rd Street.
In a letter to the village, attorney David Sosin said the theater is withdrawing its petition but still may come before the village again with a new proposal.
Community Development Committee chairman Tom Dubelbeis read the letter at Monday’s committee meeting. Residents of the nearby Hummingbird Hill and Saratoga developments and the Alden-Orland Park Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, who have opposed the expansion of the theaters at 16350 S. La Grange Rd. at every meeting, responded with light applause.
“The deal for now is off the table. They can’t bring it forward again without bringing it to the Planning Commission with a new plan,” Dubelbeis said. “They could come forward at a different time or develop a new plan, but for all intents and purposes this plan is dead and won’t go forward.”
If a new plan is submitted, Marcus Theaters would have to go through the public notification and public hearing process again, said village manager Rick Boehm.
On Oct. 10, the Planning Commission unanimously rejected the company’s second request to add an IMAX ultra-screen theater on the north end of the building and a three-story parking deck on the south end.
Marcus had proposed a 10,195-square-foot addition, including a 75-foot-wide, 42-foot-high screen, to the current structure. The new ultra-screen theater would have added 480 seats, bringing the theater complex’s capacity to 3,227 seats. The proposal called for a 30-foot, three-story, detached 39,600-square-foot parking structure.
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In 1995, Marcus built a 10-screen theater complex on the site. In 1997, the company requested and received approval for fourmore theaters, a restaurant and an office building. The office building never was constructed but the number of theaters was increased to 14.
On May 23, the Planning Commission rejected Marcus Theatres’ first proposal for the latest expansion. It included a request to add four more screens plus the ultra-screen and called for 3,620 more seats in the theaters. That proposal also called for a four-story parking garage.
In June, Sosin asked the Village Board’s Community Development Committee for permission to send a scaled-back proposal again to the Planning Commission. The proposal was rejected at the last meeting.
“I really believe this property is maxed-out. And if they want to build that ultra theater, then you will have to take out some of the existing seats to do it,” Planning Commission chairwoman Pat Gira had said.