SEQUIM — Moviegoers will have a nine-screen theater here in which to catch Academy Award-winning films — just not as soon as first projected.
“The biggest holdup is the acquisition of more land,” said Bryan Cook of Sun Basin Theatres, the company that plans to build a $6 million multiplex on East Washington Street near Rhodefer Road.
The vacant parcel is already about 8 acres, but Sun Basin could use additional land for stormwater drainage, Cook said.
Groundbreaking for the Sequim cinema, which will have almost 1,000 seats and more than 325 parking spaces, was initially planned for early last year.
In December 2004, Sequim Planning Director Dennis LeFevre said “no significant obstacles” blocked the project.
Sun Basin and its architect, Lindberg & Smith of Port Angeles, anticipated a nine-month construction schedule and a grand opening in fall 2005.
Land acquisition and other issues pushed the construction schedule back, Cook said, to a possible groundbreaking this summer and a debut in summer 2007.
Sun Basin also operates Port Angeles’ five-screen Deer Park Cinema on U.S. Highway 101, the three-screen Lincoln Theater at 132 E. First St., and two theaters in Wenatchee.
