Does Lakewood Need A Movie Theater?

[Shawn Juris]

The description of the movie theater that c. dawson provides is a great one. It would be fantastic if this could become a reality.

As far as signage goes to guide people in from I-90, this was a topic discussed at least once that I found in the archives of the Deck. While the thread itself melted down these were some details that I pulled at the time...

So back to the topic at hand, Lakewood advertising presence on I-90. The division that handles the big blue signs is Ohio Logos, Inc (division of ODOT). The cost per advertisement on interstates is $800/year per direction. Additional $120 for trailblazer (which I believe is the smaller version).
The eligibility for food businesses includes;
located within 3 miles of off ramp
open 12 hours a day, 360 days/year
seating capacity of 24
restrooms for travelling public
public telephone
For attractions (arena, stadium, historical society, historical district, museum, scenic attraction, convention center, etc:
open 8 hours a day, 5 days a week
located in an urban area
regional significance
adequate parking
public restrooms and drinking water

Now that we have the cost and requirements, I'll ask again, which businesses qualify and would be willing to participate? I've checked it out and businesses on Detroit fall within the 3 mile radius. In fact 3 miles will get you from the exit at McKinley, down to Detroit and back up to the exit at Warren. Which businesses would recognize a $800 or $1600 annual marketing expense to be beneficial?
Next challenge; 4 exits, name 6 restaraunts at each that are candidates.

An additional service that may be of interest is the Gateway program which can be found at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/maintadmin/G ... caping.htm

Other suggestions were made at the time to a different program which serviced historic districts but I've never really been clear on which those were. I can only picture the big blue boards on I 90 and these were the requirements as of Feb '07. I would suspect that a peice of this challenge that take the idea of freeway signage from the "city" oughta to it's done is getting businesses to work together and moving ahead as a group of shops or a district.

[Dee Martinez]

Again I guess I have to ask whats driving this thread. Is the Detroit in danger of going under? If it is that would be a loss but its also just business.

On the other hand if the Theater is turning a profit doing what its doing, budget movies in budget surroundings for people on budgets, whats the need to remake it into something else, particualry since again, no one is showing any cash, just opinions.

Im not sure thats where Jim was going with the original question. The question was "does Lakewood need a movie theater?' I dont think Lakewood NEEDS any particular type of business. Lakewood needs SUCCESSFUL businesses. If the Detroit is making a profit, lets move on and tell somebody else what they should do with their business.

[chris richards]

Again I guess I have to ask whats driving this thread. Is the Detroit in danger of going under?

Indeed, if this is a news source, it sure isn't doing a good job if something is happening with the Detroit Theater.

Is there any news here? or is this just a topic for ideas. If it is the latter, perhaps it should be moved to urban dynamics?

[robert dobush]

Theaters need parking, thats true. However, in many big cities parking is never next to the theater but people walk, or are shuttled in or have valet parking. The Westwood lost its parking when the Silver Coast was built. Since then , several entities tried to survive but were not successful. I bought it mainly to save it from becoming another drug store, and hoped to break even while looking for an interested party to invest in some kind of venue there. There was the kids center, the dinner theater, the night club, the concert hall , the video production facility, the 2nd run movie theater, the church sanctuary , and other ideas just in my 9 year ownership of the building. All ended up in a dead end for some reason. Does the public want a Hilliard theater? Maybe. Does the city want a Hilliard theater? From the lessons of the past, I dont think so. Otherwise , the parking spaces leased to my property would have never been rescinded by city actions when the Silver Coast was built. Regarding the "structural" problems referred to by a previous post, this is a bit misleading. It needs total cosmetic and plaster work, but foundation, brickwork, wall integrity, etc are all fine. It has needed total roof replacement for years. And, the 2 things that would keep this property from eventual bankruptcy - namely a cel phone tower or a billboard (which it used to have ) would never be approved by the city.
So, this is where we are - any comments or advice always helpful. thanx, bob d. bobtheatre@aol.com