By DEREK HODGES

Staff Writer

PIGEON FORGE — It looks like local residents will have a new option for going to the movies come spring after Pigeon Forge Planning Commission members unanimously approved a site plan that will change the face of Walden’s Landing.

The proposal calls for locating a movie theater in the Parkway shopping center.

Developer Ned Vickers, who could not attend Tuesday’s Planning Commission session because he was at a trade show for cinema owners, told The Mountain Press he plans to open five screens by May with construction possibly starting next month. There is a potential for expansion to nine screens.

“This theater’s meant to draw a couple hundred thousand people each year, and we’ve had a feasibility study done that shows we can expect that,” Vickers said by phone. “We’ve had a great response so far. I’ve never had a project that was so positively received.”

At the beginning of the year, things weren’t looking so good for the idea.

At one time Vickers, who works for Holrob Investments, was in talks with a company that hoped to open a dinner theater in the middle of the complex where a miniature golf course now sits. Several tenants protested the idea and one even filed suit, saying the construction would block views of their businesses.

Since then, Vickers has settled the lawsuit and revamped the plans.

The current proposal calls for locating the movie theater at the back of the shopping center in six suites that have traditionally been hard to fill.

Each of those spaces has already been vacated, mostly by businesses that moved out. The only two that were actually filled held an Outback Leather store that has now moved to another place in the center and an old-time photo shop, that may yet find a new home in another part of the complex, Vickers said.

“Even in good times we’ve had more trouble renting that space at the back of the center than anything else,” Vickers said.

In addition to being a hopefully profitable use of the space, the theater could drive more traffic to other Walden’s Landing tenants.

“If things continued on the way they have been this year, it would be fair to say we’re struggling,” Vickers said. “We figured out fairly quickly we needed to have a fairly big draw to bring people in.”

The $3.5 million theater seems poised to do just that. In order to ensure it can, Vickers is planning to equip the facility with 632 to 1,100 stadium seats and digital, 3-D projection. He also said he’s in negotiations with a major theater operating company about managing it.

Vickers dismisses concerns some tenants previously had about parking, pointing to a little-used but massive lot behind the complex as proof there is more than enough available. Still, the plans approved by the Planning Commission call for the construction of 32 new spaces behind No Way Jose’s restaurant.

“Parking is not an issue at all. We are actually over-parked according to code,” Vickers said.

Officials at Tuesday’s meeting offered resounding support for the reworked proposal.

“I’m glad Pigeon Forge is finally going to be getting a theater,” commission member Bill Howell said. “I think this is an excellent plan.”

Chief Planner David Taylor concurred.

“We think this is something that would be very good for the community,” he said in endorsing the plan.

Chairman Bill Bradley and commission members Howell and Robert Young voted to approve the proposal. Member Jay Ogle abstained, citing his cooperation with Vickers on other projects, though he’s not directly involved with Waldens Landing.

The theater would be the first in Pigeon Forge and only the second in the county. Though other developers have claimed over the years to be working on similar projects, none of those ever materialized.

During the session, the group also voted to approve:

Special Event

n Belz Factory Outlet World truckload sale Oct. 29-Nov. 1 and Nov. 12-Nov. 15 at 2655 Teaster Lane from Amanda Fox

Subdivision

n Resubdivision of Pine Haven Lots 4-7 into Lots 1-3 on Wears Valley Road and Easy Street

Site Plan

n Johnstone Supply retail location on Charlottes Court

n Dollywood’s Splash Country Slick Rock Racer on Dollywood Parks Boulevard

Rezoning Request

n From the city of Pigeon Forge for a parcel totaling approximately 9.6 acres at 2124 Veterans Boulevard from R-1 (low-density residential) to C-2 (tourist commercial) for a new fire station

Miscellaneous

n Setting Dec. 15 as the date for the December meeting

dhodges@themountainpress.com