Regal Cinema Plans Barkley Opening for December; Generates Mixed Public Response

By mid-December, construction on the 16-screen Regal Cinema in Barkley Village will have finished and the theater will open its doors, says Rachel Lueras, marketing manager for Regal Entertainment Group.

Although a sign in front of the construction zone reads, “Opening fall 2012,” Lueras said that the project has gone according to schedule.

Theater plans were announced in a Nov. 2010 newsletter from the Barkley Company. Workers and residents in Barkley have seen construction since last spring.

Eric Brown, who manages the Orient Express at Barkley Haggen, looks forward to the projects’ completion.  “I’m hoping that the area gets busier,” he said, but expressed concern about circulation around the theater.

“Even now, the traffic from the Alabama light gets completely backed up after 5 p.m.,” said Brown.

Abbe Rolnick, owner of Robek’s Fruit Smoothies, has spent the last eight years running her business in Barkley and anticipates more activity when the movie theater comes in. 

“That kind of expansion brings in new people who wouldn’t normally come through,” she said.

Her staff, she said, is excited for the theater to begin showing films. 

“They’re looking for somewhere to go as a treat. They see it positively.”

            Some in Barkley are more critical of the theater’s progress.

Karen Sheldon said of the theater, “I think it’s terrible.”

            “The city can’t see problems in places that need work…they are leaving lots of empty buildings,” she said.

            At least two empty buildings will result from the Barkley Cinema: the Regal Cinemas in both Sehome and Sunset Square will be closed, said Lueras. The Sehome location has already been put up for sale for $1.4 million.

            Sheldon thinks the cinema would encourage an atmosphere similar to a shopping mall. “It’ll be your typical Subway and nail salon,” she said.

            For Rolnick and her smoothie shop, however, the potential for the area’s expansion was why she opened her business in Barkley eight years ago.

            “It was considered a risk in the beginning,” she said.  But opening a business in the then-fledgling Barkley Village, “turned out to be a wise decision.”

            “If you look at the long term,” she said, “Everyone in the area will benefit. And after the recession, people like to feel the community growing. After the recession, there’s security in growth.”

            When finished, the Regal Barkley Village Stadium 16 will feature seats with headrests, a computerized box office, all-digital projection, and retractable cup holders, according to the website. It will also have an IMAX theater, the first in Bellingham.

Lueras offered no guarantees that current employees at Sunset and Sehome would be provided a job in Barkley, but Regal has already posted job applications on its website for new managers and floor staff.

“When the other movie theater comes up, people are ready to get fired,” said a 19-year-old Whatcom Community College Student, who has friends and peers employed at the Sunset location. She asked not to be identified because she plans to apply at the Barkley Regal Cinema.