Movie theatre in works for Barrow

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in Winder Archives
Thursday, November 18. 2010
Comments (17)
Soon movie goers in Barrow County will not have to go elsewhere to check out the latest big screen features.

Carmike Cinemas, Inc. announced Tuesday it will be working with Combs & Bartlett, LLC, based out of Winder, to build a 12-screen theatre with 2,328 seats.

The theatre will be located on Exchange Boulevard at the new Gateway at University Parkway project in Bethlehem. It is scheduled to open in late 2011.

The new cinema will be located on the north side of University Parkway (Hwy. 316) near the intersection of Hwy. 81. The arrangement will feature a new Carmike state-of- the art entertainment complex, a news release from the company said.

Amenities for the new 45,000-square foot 12-plex will include stadium style, high-back seating throughout the entire complex.

“Barrow County is now large enough for its own state of the art movie theater, and I believe this is the missing piece of the puzzle that will bring more of the quality restaurants we’ve all been waiting for,” said Wayne Bartlett, project manager of Combs & Bartlett, LLC, and Broker of Maynard & Bartlett Realty Group, LLC. “The area residents will be able to go to movies, eat at their favorite restaurant and shop at their favorite retailers without traveling to the Gwinnett or Athens area. I believe this new Carmike Cinema will be the catalyst that will get our local economy back on the right path. New jobs, associated with the theater and future restaurants, are much needed. This is a big deal for our community.”

The theatre will feature wall-to-wall screens, with projection powered by DLP DIGITAL technology which produces 35 trillion colors delivering the sharpest and most pristine picture available anywhere.

The theatre will include state-of-the-art DIGITAL 3-D capability from Real-D technology.

“Carmike Cinemas is delighted to be coming to the Barrow County market,” said Carmike President and CEO David Passman. “We have found a partner who has the ability to build a new state of the art entertainment complex for The Gateway at University Parkway project.

“We are very excited about working with David and the entire Carmike team,” said Rich Combs, managing partner of Combs & Bartlett, LLC. “Barrow County has been longing for entertainment, and we know the Barrow County community and surrounding areas will fully support this project.”
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#1 rac76 on 11/18/10 at 01:52 PM [Reply]
Can't wait for it to open! Usually, hubby and I take the family to Hamilton Mills to go see a movie, but this will be much easier trip to take! :-)
#2 Victor on 11/18/10 at 03:58 PM [Reply]
Start saving now, because tickets will be expensive...
#2.1 Having fun in life on 11/18/10 at 06:01 PM [Reply]
Victor get a life. Find something useful to do with your life and stop whinning all the time. Tickets are high at all theatres, now we will save money not paying so much for the gas to get there.
#2.2 Red Ryder on 11/18/10 at 09:43 PM [Reply]
You mean more expensive than other places? Why would that be?
#3 Blue Tooth on 11/18/10 at 10:31 PM [Reply]
I'll continue going to the Great Escape at Hamilton Mill or Regal at the Mall of Georgia. The latter has IMAX.
#4 Just sayin on 11/18/10 at 10:35 PM [Reply]
I guess they didn't research local Incomes no way locals can pay $10 plus per person to see a movie plus $50 for popcorn and drink. Can see this becoming a dollar movies within 1 year of completion
#5 Anonymous on 11/19/10 at 04:25 AM [Reply]
This is great news. Its been coming for many years, but never seems to materalize. Its beeen a long time since we had a movie theatre.I remember the old Strand downtown and the old Jerry Lewis Cinema over at Holly Hill.Its hard to believe we had really ever had those here.It seems like a million years ago.One of my favorite memories was when the GREASED LIGHTNING movie that was filmed here came out.The Jerry Lewis thaetre hosted alot of the cars in the movie and it was an EVENT.
#6 watching Winder die on 11/19/10 at 07:34 AM [Reply]
Slowly everything worth going to is moving our to 316. Winder is dying while Bethleham prospers. We need improvements in town to keep the community here, not out on 316....
I would still rather go to Gwinnett/Hamilton Mill than through downtown Winder and out the other side......
#6.1 MKR on 11/22/10 at 12:55 PM [Reply]
That ship sailed long ago. Winder has been a fast food stop for people heading between places for a while.

Winder has a few decent things (like the bookstore), but nothing is "moving out." They're skipping over.

The longer people deny this, the harder it will be to correct.
#7 Yeah!!!! on 11/19/10 at 10:06 AM [Reply]
Finally a way for Barrow County to boosrt the economy. Now we will have people coming to our county for the Movies!!! Kids from Walton county and dacula area will go to the theater in Bethlehem instead of the mall of Ga or Lawrenceville because it's closer!!! Bout time Barrow approved something that'll make money!!!
#8 coolbluerick84 on 11/22/10 at 11:07 AM [Reply]
That sounds great but I'll believe it when I see it!!! Thats what they said the last two times about the American Family Entertainment Centers in 2002 and the Winder Central Station in 2004. As far as I'm concerned it hasn't happened yet so don't count your chickens b4 they hatch. Maybe a bowling alley will come along. I've heard something about a Cracker Barrel eventually being built near the new theater,and possibly a Zaxby's.
#8.1 MKR on 11/22/10 at 12:31 PM [Reply]
This is the first time we've had a retail center that could support a theater. People don't just come for the movie. They do other stuff while they're out.

We do have some retail, but not enough to take on thousands of people going to see movies. There's hundreds of people coming and going at any given time of day.

Winder's streets and sidewalks don't have the physical capacity to support a competitive movie theater's customers.

Barrow Crossing will when new stores and developments follow this theater. The capacity just wasn't there in 2002 and 2004.

Barrow Crossing has just lacked foot traffic needed to entice tenants to move in. People already had one of everything there closer to home. But this will be the only movie theater in Barrow.
#9 Capt. Obvious on 11/22/10 at 11:52 AM [Reply]
Better hire a bunch of security! Establish a dress code, "No Pants on tha Ground"!!
#10 Ben on 11/22/10 at 01:20 PM [Reply]
This was supposed to happen shortly after Home Depot came to town, but they wanted too much money for the land surrounding them. Looks like someone wised up and started sales north of 316. These companies resist building in Winder because its too far from highway access and the Winder economy isn't too hot right now. Combine that with terrible traffic around the downtown Winder area and its hard not to select an area like 316/81.
#11 coolbluerick84 on 11/22/10 at 01:36 PM [Reply]
Bojangles is coming where the Tree House is by Ingles also
#12 What???? on 11/23/10 at 05:14 AM [Reply]
Don't worry about down town winder. As soon as the theatre is built, the city will annex it into the city limits to get their share of the tax dollars. Hopefully they didn't choose that location so they could avoid city and county taxes. If so it could deter other businesses from building on exchange blvd.
#13 Anonymous on 12/12/10 at 07:19 AM [Reply]
Great ! Im employed by Gwinnett and attend movies in Gwinnett as well as shop. But I would love for my hometown BETHLEHEM to reap the benefits of the tax dollars that i spend in other counties. Would love to have a Dollar Tree
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