What the Corridor REALLY Needs is Another Shopping Center

pineinthegrass wrote:

The Viking wrote: Would love a theater but looking at Evergreen that has 30 or 40 thousand more people and that one struggles. Not sure that would make it up here.

That Evergreen movie theater recently closed down. Too bad because we enjoyed it and the price was lower than down the hill.

It would be nice to have a bowling alley, but I'm not sure it could make it here. Maybe if they also included other activities with it?

When did it close?

mittra303 wrote: First rule in real estate is location, location, location. The second is timing.

Ten years ago the population of the 285 Corridor wasn't as dense as it is now. Also, Pine Junction is a bit further up the mountain.

I believe the Conifer/Aspen Park area is a great place for family oriented entertainment businesses. Once you get past Indian Hills, there isn't anything until Fairplay and that's the opposite direction most people travel. Between the various restaurants and the two grocery shopping centers in Conifer/Aspen Park, these are already gathering places for the 285 Corridor Mountain Community. Additionally, both a bowling alley and movie theater would largely benefit from youth patrons and with Conifer HS right there, a convenient, local base with nothing but disposable income is built-in to the area. What could be better?

So, now that Big R is taking over the space in Aspen Park Village, where else in the area has vacant space large enough for a 4-6 screen theater? The space next to Checker could probably support a 3 or 4 screen theater, but then where could we put the bowling alley? I initially considered the vacant space below Sonic to build the theater, but I wanted to be respectful of the area and Community and didn't want to build new where I could just use existing facilities.

I agree. I put the traffic numbers above. I think Conifer could actually support a bowling alley. But as you said, they need something combined with it.

I'd heard the one at Bergen Park had recently closed, Pine (within the last 60 days I think Viking). I think the difference is that Evergreen is a straight shot up I70 where there is Colorado Mills less than 20 minutes away and they have a new theater there. Conifer is 15-20 minutes from C470 where it is still another 15-20 minutes to Bowles Crossing or the AMC24 in Highlands Ranch or Colorado Mills or even the new Regal Theater at Hampden and Santa Fe. My point is that Colorado Mills easily took a lot of the traffic that would have otherwise gone to the theater at Bergen Park because it is reasonably convenient to get to, while a theater in Conifer/Aspen Park would be extremely convenient for anyone living in the Conifer/Aspen Park area as well as anyone North/East of Kenosha Pass. The same is true of a bowling alley.

The problem with trying to do a multi-activity facility like FunPlex... er... Fat City (or whatever it's called now)... is that not only are you splitting your attention between so many different activities that you can't truly successfully focus on just one, but it requires a much larger facility which becomes a blight on the community and offends people like LJ.

I didn't say I was offended by your proposal for either a bowling alley or a theater... But it must be terribly fun to try to put things in my mouth I didn't say.

I said, "There's a reason why the bowling alley failed..." That is a true statement. Other than that, I made no value judgement on it. But y'all have fun now, y'hear, trying to be outraged about something I didn't say.

Okay. Correct me if I'm wrong, LJ, but if I built up a large cineplex type facility on the space below Sonic in the Conifer Town Center area, wouldn't that offend you as unnecessarily building in an area that doesn't need more buildings? That was what I meant by it would offend people like you.

fwiw I also can't stand unnecessary building and was trying to find solutions that used existing facilities. I even considered trying to use that blight at the entrance to Kings Valley, but its architectural configuration is all wrong for either a bowling alley or a movie theater (although for a roller rink it may not be too bad).

LadyJazzer wrote: I didn't say I was offended by your proposal for either a bowling alley or a theater... But it must be terribly fun to try to put things in my mouth I didn't say.

I said, "There's a reason why the bowling alley failed..." That is a true statement. Other than that, I made no value judgement on it. But y'all have fun now, y'hear, trying to be outraged about something I didn't say.

LJ, don't try and act so innocent. You have been outspoken against ANYTHING new up here for years. Just because you didn't say it about this yet, we all expect you to.

mittra303 wrote: Okay. Correct me if I'm wrong, LJ, but if I built up a large cineplex type facility on the space below Sonic in the Conifer Town Center area, wouldn't that offend you as unnecessarily building in an area that doesn't need more buildings? That was what I meant by it would offend people like you.

fwiw I also can't stand unnecessary building and was trying to find solutions that used existing facilities. I even considered trying to use that blight at the entrance to Kings Valley, but its architectural configuration is all wrong for either a bowling alley or a movie theater (although for a roller rink it may not be too bad).

I COMMEND you for thinking in terms of the mountain. My major concern would be the WATER usage for such a large endeavor (specifically the cineplex)......it is my understanding that the MAJOR issue with both
centers is water and the PIF being implemented. Have you researched the water issue for these projects?

mittra303 wrote: Okay. Correct me if I'm wrong, LJ, but if I built up a large cineplex type facility on the space below Sonic in the Conifer Town Center area, wouldn't that offend you as unnecessarily building in an area that doesn't need more buildings? That was what I meant by it would offend people like you.

fwiw I also can't stand unnecessary building and was trying to find solutions that used existing facilities. I even considered trying to use that blight at the entrance to Kings Valley, but its architectural configuration is all wrong for either a bowling alley or a movie theater (although for a roller rink it may not be too bad).

In that context, you're probably right. I would be unsettled...(don't know that I'd use "offended")...by a huge fun-plex type facility at the Sonic site... And I don't think it does need more buildings... And if it was built, I doubt that I would go there...(even if Viking thinks that it should be mandatory that I do.)

I can guarantee you that if it gets built at the entrance to King's Valley, I would not--under any circumstances--go there. And I don't particularly give a rat's patoot if Viking likes that or not. I believe we've already covered that ground.

My point on the original bowling alley was that it started with a well-established local landmark being torn down and replaced by a bowling alley that no one, to my knowledge, rose up and said, "Build it and they will come." Whether or not the Red Rooster was a thriving business or not at the time is not really relevant. Anybody that comes in and scrapes-and-builds may have a legal right to do so if they buy the property (and of course, get the crooked County to zone it and approve it)...But that doesn't mean it was a smart thing to do. At least using an existing structure avoids the perception of creating a "blight". I wouldn't patronize a bowling alley because personally, I don't care about bowling. I went out of my way to avoid doing ANY business with the one in Pine Junction, on general principles. And as I have already said, I will not do business with any business in that Kings Valley eyesore.

I am still in extremely preliminary steps for either of these projects, homeagain. As in these are merely ideas I'm toying with and have only put out extremely informal feelers for whether the community as a whole would support or reject the ideas. I have not yet looked into the water issues involved; however, I don't believe either facility would put much strain on the water usage as these are not restaurants, and the bulk of water usage for the area would be restroom facilities. Part of my thinking in trying to find and use existing facilities is that things like water usage have already been planned for and anticipated so my projects wouldn't strain the area.

Truth be told, I also would prefer not to build a huge cineplex. I was thinking a 4 to 6 screen theater would accommodate the various new releases on any given weekend and provide the most variety for my customers without being overwhelming or more than the community could handle/support. The problem I have run into, so far, is that there are only two franchises for theaters i have found so far. One is for single screen theaters (typically put into historic or old town locations) which I think is too small and wouldn't survive as the number of people that could view movies and enjoy the facility would be pretty limited. The other is for a dinner theater type facility where you can order dinner while you watch a movie. That I just think is trying to do too much with the facility and I wouldn't want to compete with dedicated restaurants in the area.

As you can see, it's a learning curve and I'm still learning how to go about making it happen, but the first thing is determining the best location for it.

mittra303 wrote: I am still in extremely preliminary steps for either of these projects, homeagain. As in these are merely ideas I'm toying with and have only put out extremely informal feelers for whether the community as a whole would support or reject the ideas. I have not yet looked into the water issues involved; however, I don't believe either facility would put much strain on the water usage as these are not restaurants, and the bulk of water usage for the area would be restroom facilities. Part of my thinking in trying to find and use existing facilities is that things like water usage have already been planned for and anticipated so my projects wouldn't strain the area.

Truth be told, I also would prefer not to build a huge cineplex. I was thinking a 4 to 6 screen theater would accommodate the various new releases on any given weekend and provide the most variety for my customers without being overwhelming or more than the community could handle/support. The problem I have run into, so far, is that there are only two franchises for theaters i have found so far. One is for single screen theaters (typically put into historic or old town locations) which I think is too small and wouldn't survive as the number of people that could view movies and enjoy the facility would be pretty limited. The other is for a dinner theater type facility where you can order dinner while you watch a movie. That I just think is trying to do too much with the facility and I wouldn't want to compete with dedicated restaurants in the area.

As you can see, it's a learning curve and I'm still learning how to go about making it happen, but the first thing is determining the best location for it.

Well, I wish you the best of luck as I always appreciate someone who trys to better our local community.