MOLINE, Ill. — Update 10 p.m.: Nearly a year ago, the Regal Cinemas theater in Moline closed its doors for good. But now, a regional chain is breathing new life into the 20-year-old building.
A team from VIP Cinemas has been cleaning since it took possession of the theater two weeks ago. But not all of those repairs were from the building sitting idle.
"We've had four different times people have tried to break in here," Director of Operations Josh Ward said. "And quite a bit of damage caused the last time before we took possession."
Those break-ins started in May — the most recent attempt was on Monday night.
But even with those setbacks, Ward said the city will only need to wait another week to have its theater back. Once their work is cleared by city inspectors, he expects it to open July 11.
Ward said he's gotten plenty of good feedback from the community.
"The main thing we’ve heard is people have a lot of memories here," Ward said. "This was their theater of choice, especially for the Moline area."
And with up to 35 positions to fill, Ward said people are eager to help others make those memories, too.
"What we've seen is since day one when we posted these jobs, people have been flooding through the doors to apply for them," Ward said. "I know over the next week we’re calling a whole bunch of people over here."
Ward said they're still interviewing candidates. You can find the link to apply here.
Most of the theater will stay the same, including the exterior, but it'll open with one big difference.
"We are lowering the ticket prices from what Regal had it, as well as making sure our concession and ticket prices are the lowest around," Ward said.
The theater will open with 10 of its 14 screens while projector issues are resolved. Ward said all screens should be open within a month or two.
Original story: After nearly a year without a movie theater on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, the former Regal Moline Cinema is reopening this July with a new name.
VIP Moline 14 is the name of the new theater opening on Thursday, July 11. News 8 was at the theater, where workers were getting the theater ready for opening day.
Starting July 11, VIP Moline 14 will be showing the following movies:
- "Despicable Me 4"
- "A Quiet Place: Day One"
- "Inside Out 2"
- "Fly Me to the Moon"
- "The Bikeriders"
- "Horizon: An American Saga"
- "Bad Boys: Ride or Die"
- "IF"
- "MaXXXine"
The VIP Cinemas website lists a webpage for the VIP Moline 14 location, where patrons will presumably be able to find movies and showtimes once the theater opens.
VIP's website lists 15 total theaters across Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansa, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
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