John Schweiger, who had little time to talk this week before he hopped on a plane, said he’s been working on the project for a little over a year.
Jim Holycross, Wasilla’s planning director, said Schweiger applied to take 12 acres of the 29-acre parcel next to Wal-Mart on Seward-Meridian Parkway and rezone it from rural residential to commercial. The remaining 17 acres will remain residential. Schweiger said he plans to build a theater on the 12-acre commercial plot.
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“It appears to meet the criteria and it’s pretty straightforward,” Holycross said of the plan.
From here, Holycross said, Schweiger will have to enter a process known as a conditional use permit site design review, where the city will look at issues such as drainage and access to the site.
Schweiger’s company Web site lists 21 theaters under the aegis of Coming Attractions Theatres, all in Oregon, Washington or Northern California. The Web site lists Schweiger as the founder, saying he began the company when he worked to renovate a theater in 1985 in Ashland, Ore.
In Wasilla, people seem to be excited by the prospect of a another movie theater, Schweiger said.
“If you were going to put in a theater in New York City it’d be no big deal. But in Wasilla, it’s an event,” he said.
The Valley already has a movie theater — Mat-Su Cinema, which sits on the Parks Highway not far from where Schweiger plans to build his complex.
Reached by cell phone while out of state Thursday, owner Sandy Morgan said she hasn’t heard the news and could not yet comment.
Schweiger said he had help from Cheryl Metiva at the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce and her husband, Marty Metiva, a city councilman and mayoral candidate who will face attorney Verne Rupright in a runoff election Oct. 28. Metiva said his involvement has been mainly through Mat-Su Resource Conservation and Development Council, a non-profit organization he serves as executive director.
“It’s [a] distribution point for information and contacts to make sure they’ve been able to reach the people they need to talk to,” Marty Metiva said.
Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.
Comments
14 comment(s)Michael wrote on Oct 27, 2008 10:28 AM:
Debra wrote on Oct 19, 2008 4:28 PM:
Let's to to the movie! "
just a kid wrote on Oct 18, 2008 12:49 PM:
Dan wrote on Oct 18, 2008 2:38 AM:
buick wrote on Oct 17, 2008 9:48 PM:
Brittany wrote on Oct 17, 2008 9:17 PM:
finally wrote on Oct 17, 2008 2:13 PM:
Maybe you should VOTE for the owner of the current movie theater to clean up their business, and try to keep us loyal to them, rather than having us drive to Eagle River or Anchorage to see movies, hmm?
That place is a D-U-M-P. Bring on the competition! "
mreid wrote on Oct 17, 2008 1:52 PM:
mreid wrote on Oct 17, 2008 11:03 AM:
city voter wrote on Oct 17, 2008 9:29 AM:
MAXKATT from NY wrote on Oct 17, 2008 6:42 AM:
Wellner wrote on Oct 17, 2008 4:22 AM:
The theater would be nice, but don't give them credit because it would taint Schweiger effort. They are opportunists and you play right into their hands! "
Political PLUG wrote on Oct 17, 2008 4:18 AM:
This article could have been objective, No instead you had to showcase Metiva and Metiva. the hopeful "owners' of what once was Wasilla.
SAD SAD SAD "
yess wrote on Oct 16, 2008 9:58 PM: