For those who enjoy the in-person experience of seeing a movie in a theater as opposed to streaming on TV, Batavia will soon be home to the largest movie screen of its kind in the state.
Last summer, height changes were approved by the Batavia City Council which cleared the way for the installation of a 96-foot-wide screen, known as the Super E-MAX, to be installed at the former Randall 15 movie theater at 550 N. Randall Road.
Construction has begun on the project, including work on Feb. 15 when three 98-foot-wide truss girders, each weighing approximately 11,000 pounds and standing 72 feet tall, along with 68 joists weighing approximately 350 pounds each, became part of the structure of what will be Illinois’ largest film screen.
The project’s owner, Emagine Entertainment of Troy, Michigan – the ninth largest theater chain in the country – currently operates 28 theaters in five states including theaters in Frankfort and Chatham in Illinois.
In a press release, Paul Glantz, chairman and co-founder of Emagine Entertainment, said the company is “trying to do something unique for our guests that will make them want to leave their homes and come visit Emagine.”
“Between this massive 96-foot screen, our heated and powered recliners, and our enhanced concessions, we think this will provide an exemplary experience,” he said.
On Thursday, both Glantz and CEO of Emagine Entertainment Anthony LaVerde spoke about the progress of construction at the site, which is expected to open in a few months.
“The buildout was expected to cost in excess of $10 million and I’m still comfortable about that number and where we’re at,” said Glantz. “In my business, everything takes longer and costs more than I think it should, but we are on track for our June 1 opening. We know about the summer blockbusters and we want to capture some of that business. If we had our druthers we’d be open two weeks earlier. I’ve got to treat my tradesmen well but they’re on a pretty aggressive schedule right now.”
Glantz said he “has a good track record” with his contractors and that despite setbacks seen worldwide with materials, the biggest challenges the project has faced in recent months are skyrocketing costs and a lack of entertainment products to be shown.
“Availability of materials isn’t the issue but rather there being substantially higher costs. Concrete has more than doubled, and steel is up significantly as well,” he said. “But where we’ve seen the biggest supply chain constraints, interestingly enough, it’s in the film slate last year. There were films in the can and ready to show like ‘Top Gun’ that were held back a couple of years. It turned out that because of the halting of production and post-product that came along with COVID we didn’t haven’t nearly as many feature releases last year as we did pre-pandemic.”
In order to provide some context, Glantz said there were 114 feature releases in 2019 as compared to 67 last year.
“The good news for us is it looks like that logjam has broken through and this year, we’re looking to do more than 100 films again so that buoys my optimism for a pretty good 2023,” he said.
Glantz said with “everybody owning a large flat screen these days” and so many movie streaming options available the Emagine group has been working to up the ante on the movie viewing experience, something that LaVerde promises visitors will find.
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“We have to do something for guests that they can’t do at home these days, and that’s what this facility has been designed to do,” LaVerde said. “There is going to be an expanded food and beverage menu. We feel that the surrounding demographics with Geneva and Naperville and other communities, this was a terrific place to do a project like this. Originally when we acquired the business out of bankruptcy we were just going to rehab the building and rebuild it to our standards, but we realized this is a highly competitive marketplace and we needed something that had the wow factor and set it above all its competition.”
LaVerde said the facility will also feature a four-lane duck-pin bowling center dubbed “The High Roller Room” that “will be the first of its kind and have interactive lanes on it.”
“It will be available for private rental, birthday parties – you’ll have pool tables, a full service bar and the bowling. We plan to serve all demographics from kids through adults and it’s going to be a world-class facility,” LaVerde said.
There will also be a brick oven that serves “gourmet pizza which can be ordered at the concession stand where people can wait, or we’ll bring it to your seat.”
“You’ll also be able to preorder food using an app,” LaVerde said.
In addition, the theater will include two private screening rooms and 12 auditoriums, all featuring luxury heated recliners, according to company officials.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.