$20m to be spent on giant cinemas

By GEORGINA BOND

Village Sky City Cinemas plans to spend about $20 million to develop two 10-screen cinema centres at Westfield Manukau City and the planned Westfield Albany in 2006.

Each multiplex will seat more than 2200 people in eight mainstream auditoriums, a large-format "Mega-Screen" cinema, and two 40-seat premium "Gold Class" theatres.

The developments will bring the number of Village Sky City multiplexes at Westfield shopping centres to five, following an agreement between the two firms in 1999.

The first to open was Westfield WestCity Henderson in July 2001, followed by Westfield St Lukes in May last year. A third is due to open at Westfield Queensgate in Lower Hutt at the end of next year.

Village Sky City chief Joe Moodabe said the cinema-retail combination had proved to be hugely successful, and was now the blueprint for its future cinema complexes.

Several more were scheduled to be built over the next few years.

Construction of the Westfield Albany Town Centre is due to start in January, and work will start on the incorporated cinema later in the year for a late-2006 opening. The multiplex would be a magnet for entertainment seekers from Takapuna to Orewa and beyond.

The Manukau City multiplex is due to open early in 2006.

Moodabe said he expected the two multiplexes to become "entertainment hubs" offering shopping, dining and leisure under one roof.

The Gold Class theatres would have reclining armchairs, footrests, personal tables, waiting staff and a licensed bar.