New look: Revamped theater to open this week in Dubuque

• BY JEFF MONTGOMERY jeff.montgomery@thmedia.com

On a mid-January morning at the Kennedy Mall, officials from a Michigan-based company announced plans to bring a new cinema experience to Dubuque.

Eleven weeks and $1.7 million later, Phoenix Theatres nearly is ready to be unveiled to the public. The movie theater will open its doors Friday in the building that formerly housed Mindframe Theaters.

Theater manager Stephanie Rainey said it has taken a lot of hard work to get the theater ready to reopen.

“We’ve been very busy day-to-day with contractors coming in and out and trying to get employees hired,” Rainey said. “It has been a pretty big project, and we are happy to be at this point.”

The first thing many moviegoers will notice about the theater is the new seating. All six auditoriums are outfitted with love seat-style reclining chairs.

The heated seats have become a calling card for Phoenix Theatres, which also operates a trio of cinemas in Michigan.

“One of the things we have learned over the years is that people care about comfort,” said owner Cory Jacobson. “The mentality used to be, ‘How many seats can we fit into a theater?’ It is not like that anymore.”

The spacious seats drastically cut down on the capacity of the theater, Jacobson said. Mindframe’s six auditoriums collectively had about 1,350 seats, he said. Phoenix Theatres only has 525.

Officials at Phoenix Theatres said they will compensate for the diminished number of seats by offering more showings, with the earliest shows beginning at about 9 a.m. and the latest starting at 11 p.m. or midnight.

A NEW EXPERIENCE

The seats are far from the only new thing customers will notice at Phoenix Theatres.

Jacobson said all six auditoriums have been outfitted with new sound systems. The two largest rooms feature Trinnov Ovation, an “immersive sound system” that was designed in France, Jacobson said.

All auditoriums also will boast new screens that will aim to provide better brightness and clarity.

Crews have repainted the exterior of the building and added new signage, both renovations that might already have caught the eyes of passersby.

Upon entering the theater, customers will be greeted by a player grand piano in the former box office area.

New carpeting has been installed and interior walls have been repainted, Jacobson said. Crews also have updated the plumbing and put in new toilet fixtures, sinks and urinals in the bathroom.

Molly’s Silver Screen Canteen, a coffee shop that operated within Mindframe Theatres, no longer will be operating at the site.

However, a new concession stand has been built within the theater, Jacobson said.

Wine and beer will be served on site — an offering that will represent a first for Phoenix Theatres.

“We wanted to make sure we were adding things at the theater without taking anything away,” said Jacobson. “This is something that customers had come to expect at this building.”

RAPID TRANSFORMATION

The swift transformation of the theater might be surprising to some Dubuque-area residents.

Mindframe Theaters opened in 2008 and occupied the structure at 555 John F. Kennedy Road for nearly a full decade. The theater closed Jan. 1, less than two weeks after owners announced the impending closure via social media.

Joe Bell serves as the spokesman for Cafaro Co., which owns the theater property and leased the facility to Mindframe and now leases to Phoenix.

He said officials at Phoenix Theatres have taken a “neglected theater” and turned it into a “first-class operation.”

In time, he thinks customers in the tri-states will warm to the idea of the new owners.

“There’s a lot to be said about a locally owned operation, but that’s not always feasible,” Bell said. “The fact is, the mindset of Phoenix Theatres is that of a hometown operation. They are not this huge conglomerate with a thousand theaters. They want to provide a quality experience and a hometown atmosphere.”

Rainey said 40 people have been hired to work at Phoenix Theatres, while seven used to work at Mindframe. Of the four managers at Phoenix, three were formerly managers at Mindframe.

Phoenix Theatres - What you need to know

Opening Day: Friday, April 6

Showings: 6 auditoriums (same as Mindframe Theaters)

Prices: Tickets will cost $5 per person for everybody until 6 p.m.; after 6 p.m., tickets cost $8.75 for general population, $6 for children and seniors

Opening day lineup: "Blockers," "Black Panther," "A Quiet Place," "Ready Player One" and "This Day Forward." Officials have not finalized which film will play in the sixth theater.