Movie Megaplex Delayed Until 1998

Anaheim Drive-In was razed in September to make way for a 25-screen cinema complex that was to open this May. But Pacific Theatres officials said this week that the project on Lemon Street at the Riverside Freeway is on hold.

The company is giving three other megaplex movie theater complexes higher priority, officials said, pushing the opening of the Anaheim cinemas to 1998.

“We’re fast-tracking three other projects. We can’t do everything,” said Chan Wood, executive vice president, head film buyer and director of marketing of Los Angeles-based Pacific Theatres.

Wood said there are no plans to scrap the complex, however, which is to have 5,500 stadium-style seats, a lobby with three snack bars and 2,000 parking spaces on a 22-acre site. Several restaurants, a food court and fun center for youngsters are also planned.

Wood said Pacific Theatres is focusing first on a cineplex in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley and two similar complexes in San Diego County.

“The other three sites were more important to us as a company,” Wood said. The 25-screen, 5,700-seat theater complex in Chatsworth is set to open this summer, he said.

A 14-screen complex in the San Diego area is to be completed in May, and a 15-screen complex in San Diego’s downtown area is expected to open in November, Wood said.