Theatre ushers in new era for Penticton

Landmark Cinemas open new seven-screen theatre in Penticton on Friday

Movie patrons stock up on refreshments during the special VIP movie night Wednesday at the new Landmark Cinema 7 in Penticton. The seven-screen theatre opens to the public on Friday.

Movie patrons stock up on refreshments during the special VIP movie night Wednesday at the new Landmark Cinema 7 in Penticton. The seven-screen theatre opens to the public on Friday.

Brian McIntosh figures at least three generations of movie-lovers have enjoyed films together at the Pen-Mar.

The Landmark Cinemas CEO hopes that tradition will continue at the new Landmark Cinema 7 that opens Friday in Penticton.

ā€œIf you’re born in 1974 — the year that Landmark bought the Pen-Mar — you are now 38 years old. Your parents went to the Pen-Mar, you went to the Pen-Mar and your teenage children went to the Pen-Mar. We want to thank you for that and encourage all three generations to keep up the good work,ā€ said McIntosh at the VIP event held on Wednesday evening.

Since the early 2000s, Landmark Cinemas has wanted to do something in Penticton. McIntosh admits although it was a bit of a ā€œchoreā€ jumping through environmental problems, real estate issues and other roadblocks, they are happy they found a home. The Winnipeg Street site they have built on, that was once a Safeway, a Canadian Tire and eventually a Liquidation World store, was actually under contract in 2005.

ā€œNo one has wanted it worse than Landmark Cinemas. The Pen-Mar has under-serviced your community for a long, long time — we have known that and have tried to put something new in place,ā€ said McIntosh.

The new 23,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art complex with 1,142 rocker seats has been designed and built with the ultimate customer experience in mind.

ā€œThe existing Landmark Cinema, the Pen-Mar, has served the Penticton area for nearly half a century and it is indeed past its best by date,ā€ said Neil Campbell, chief operating officer of Landmark Cinemas of Canada. ā€œPenticton has shown Landmark Cinemas such tremendous support over the years, so we are extremely proud to open this state-of-the-art cinema complex in this community so that the people of Penticton can enjoy all the magic of the movies once again.ā€

Also in the Landmark Cinemas 7 Penticton is stadium seating for unobstructed sight lines, wall-to-wall wrap around screens and RealD 3D technology in five of the seven auditoriums. Taking the rush out of the theatre experience is complimentary reserved seating and Landmark’s Quick Tix, a computerized ticketing system that provides the self-serve, same-day and advanced ticketing purchases online, mobile and at the theatre. The theatre is also equipped with closed-captioning devices and low-level hearing headsets.

Landmark Cinemas also stated they are committed to continuing to be an active member in the community.

ā€œWe have been part of the Penticton community for a long time now and this city really represents the type of family values and corporate commitment that we value as a company.Ā  We look forward to working with our customers and local businesses in order to continue to be a real part of the community landscapeā€ Campbell said.

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