It has been a long road with many delays, but after four years Penn's new movie theater will open today.
The Bridge: De Lux Cinema and its 12 Lounge, a full service restaurant and bar located in the complex, are opening to the public today, but some of the retail spaces within the building still have not been filled.
The largest retail space that is currently vacant is a two-floor space meant for a restaurant.
"There is a potential restaurant space, which is right on the corner of 40th and Walnut" streets, Associate Vice President for Business Services Lisa Prasad said. "We're in the process right now of marketing it to potential tenants."
"There's quite a bit of interest," Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said, adding that he expects a better idea of who may set up shop in the retail vacancies in a few months.
Prasad also said that the University has engaged in "some good conversations with a potential restaurant" that may fill that space, but nothing is certain at this point.
According to Prasad, there are also two other available retail spaces -- one facing 40th and the other facing Walnut.
Blaik said that the University did not aim to have these spaces filled by the time the theater was completed.
"We never intended to open them at the time the theater opened," he said. "We're thinking of the theater as the anchor tenant, and as we market and open and try to attract retailers, having the theater open is a very important thing."
Prasad also said that now that the theater is open, these retail spaces will become that much more appealing.
"It will just raise the visibility of the space and make it much more marketable," she said.
The Bridge shows movies on six screens and can seat 1,150 people. It also provides wireless Internet access free of charge, concierge services and four hours of parking free with validation in the lot above the Freshgrocer across the street.
Additionally, the new theater features a Media Immersion Room, where patrons can view some of the work of select Penn film and animation students.
Such amenities, however, are a long time coming.
University officials first announced plans for a theater complex on 40th and Walnut streets in 1998. The theater was originally set to open two years ago, under a partnership between Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas and the University. Construction began during the summer of 1999.
The theater would have been a showcase for independent and student films, and retail specialities such as a tapas bar were planned in the deal.
However, in November of 2000, Sundance pulled out of its deal with Penn because its financial partner, General Cinemas, filed for bankruptcy.
After the collapse of the deal with Sundance, the University was unable to find a new partner willing to run the theater. For about a year, the space sat vacant and unfinished.
"After the bankruptcy of General Cinemas, the project was stopped for almost a year, and during that time, many other theater operations went into bankruptcy and it was difficult for us to quickly turn around and find a lease with someone else," Blaik said.
Esaul Sanchez, asset manager for Penn's real estate department, echoed Blaik's sentiments.
"It was not easy, basically because the economy has been suffering and also because movie operators have been closing," he said. "There was a bankruptcy on our way to this theater, and that completely threw everybody off track."
"It took a lot of courage and effort just to get this huge train back on track," Sanchez added. "It is extremely difficult to carry to completion projects of this magnitude with so many moving parts, but it demonstrates the will that the University leadership has had."
The University had to wait for quite some time to strike another deal with a theater operator.
"What we did was we completed the construction on the exterior and we waited until the industry came out of bankruptcy and became more interested in construction," Blaik said. "That's when we were able to attract National Amusements."
In April of this year, the University announced its partnership with National Amusements and CineBridge Ventures. The University Board of Trustees secured the rest of the necessary funding, and the project finally began moving towards the point of completion and today's opening.
