Coming soon to a downtown core near you: a seven-auditorium theatre.
Penticton council unanimously approved Landmark Cinemas’ application for a development permit to build a new cinema and additional commercial uses at the Liquidation World site at Winnipeg Street and Westminster Avenue.
“We’ve waited for this for a long time,” Coun. Judy Sentes said.
The site was previously contaminated by contaminants from a site to the south, and Landmark has been working to clean the site up since 2008. They have since received a certificate of compliance from the Ministry of Environment, which freed up the city to allow for development for the site.
Anthony Haddad, director of development services, said the project is eligible for economic investment zone incentives — including a three-year tax break on the land and 100 per cent of the building permit fees — because the proposed development falls into the category of key tenants the city is seeking in the area.
Coun. Mike Pearce lauded the investment zone bylaw, noting four or five municipalities in B.C. have offered similar incentives for business. The cinema project, he added, is among two under the bylaw that will create employment.
“One thing I’m hearing out there is they all want jobs, so I want to do what we can to help them out,” he said.
Acknowledgement around the table was given to the owners of the land for setting the site aside as the potential home for a theatre, and Mayor Dan Ashton thanked Landmark specifically for bringing a project forward that was “long overdue.”
“Thank you very much for believing in Penticton,” he said.