Exit AMC Sundance 11 Theatres, enter Norris Conference Centers

Fulfilling a retrofitting possibility first pondered during the late 1990s by Sundance Square Management, longtime downtown movie operator AMC Entertainment has shuttered its Sundance 11 Theatres on Houston Street in order to open the property to a conversion by Norris Conference Centers of Houston and Austin.

AMC Entertainment Inc., meanwhile, said it will bolster its downtown presence with AMC Palace 9 Theatres on East Third Street. Employees at the Houston Street address have been “encouraged to interview at AMC Palace 9 or other AMC theatres,” said corporate spokesman Andy DiOrio at AMC’s Kansas City, Mo., headquarters.

The Jan. 6 closing of the Sundance 11 reduces by more than half the number of AMC screens in Fort Worth. In what Sundance Square President and CEO Johnny Campbell termed “a joint commitment to maximize the potential of the Palace,” the entertainment district and the theatrical company are developing strategies to increase productivity and traffic at the remaining multi-screen showplace.

Campbell suggested increased show-times as a possibility. AMC Entertainment, meanwhile, has declined to comment upon the possibility of a digital-projection conversion for the Palace, which employs conventional 35-millimeter film-projection systems. Newer AMC construction, including the Lewisville-area Highland Village 12 Theatres, involves digital-projection technology.

Where AMC’s Houston Street lease had been approaching an end, Campbell explained, the exhibition company’s Palace Block lease along Third Street now extends beyond five years.

Campbell characterized the conversion, to begin immediately, as “a multimillion-dollar project,” adding: “We’ll completely renovate the interior, in keeping with the Norris company’s standards of operation.”

Acknowledging that “many people wouldn’t recognize that 300 block of Houston Street without the signature Art Deco vertical architecture” that has distinguished the movie theater, Campbell said the exterior will remain approximately the same, barring the likely removal of the marquee and a curbside box-office kiosk.

The distinctive appearance of the façade is the work of David M. Schwarz Architectural Services Inc., which also is responsible for much of the overall look of Sundance Square. Sundance Square accomplished a similar landmark conversion in 2001, altering Houston Street’s former Caravan of Dreams nightclub to accommodate Reata, a popular restaurant, without sacrificing the distinctive contours of the corner address.

“It often can be a challenge, when you’re managing these three-way deals, to try to come up with something that works for everyone,” said Campbell. “In this case, our dealings, as Sundance Square, with AMC and Norris Conference Centers, has been a very smooth and efficient process — a real pleasure, with results that not only sustain our commitment to the entertainment business but also bring us a full-scale business-conference component that we have needed.

“Norris’ conference-and-meetings facilities will bring us right up to speed to deal with the constant requests we receive for convention and business-meeting facilities,” he added. “And people attending conferences at the new Norris facility will find all our familiar shopping, dining and entertainment options within walking distance.”

Campbell said Norris first approached Sundance Square two years ago about the prospect of a facility for meetings and presentations comparable with those Norris operates in Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Discussion of a theoretical retrofit for the Houston Street address, which adjoins the Sundance West residential properties, had taken place as long ago as 1998.

“It seems that the ideal property was hiding in plain sight,” Campbell added. “And once we had realized this, we began our three-way negotiations.”

Norris Conference Centers President David Norris said the company plans to open the 40,000-square-foot facility during the fall. Plans call for six executive meeting rooms, primarily for corporate training and sales meetings. One room will retain the aspect of an auditorium for large-scale presentations.

The Sundance 11 was originally developed in 1991 as the downtown area’s first moviegoing venue since the closing of the last historic single-screen theaters during the 1970s. Conceived as a trend-bucking experiment — against a tide of suburban-theater development — the Sundance 11 promptly became a mass-market traffic-driving force.

Its success led, in turn, to the construction in 1996 of the AMC Palace while helping to encourage other restaurant and retail-store openings. AMC’s operations in the central-city area known as Sundance Square have generated annual patronage of more than a million customers.

Norris Conference Centers launched its flagship Austin facility in 1990. A Houston location opened in 1996, followed by developments at Corpus Christi in 2000 and San Antonio in 2005. The company deals in events ranging from corporate seminars to private festivities.

Contact Price at mprice@bizpress.net