Pittsburgh Cultural Trust To Build Six-Screen Movie Theater Downtown

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's been a long time since downtown Pittsburgh had a real movie theater showing first-run films.

But that is about to change.

"We want to make sure there is something in the Cultural District for everyone, and this new six-screen, first-run movie theater we think is just the ticket, so to speak, to bringing more people downtown," Kevin McMahon, CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Friday.

McMahon says they are re-configuring the Bally's Sports Club on Sixth next to the Renaissance Hotel and the Byham Theater into a movie theater, which he thinks is just what the public wants.

"While certainly suburban cineplexes aren't going to disappear, it's pretty clear that people are coming downtown for the great restaurant scene that we have downtown," McMahon said, "and so they have dinner, and now it's 8:15 or 8:20. It's too early to go home and call it a night."

So instead he hopes they grab a movie at a state-of-the-art theater.

"There's plenty of space in the old Bally's athletic club building. We have more than enough space to accommodate large screens, large seats and the kind of amenities that increasingly people expect," McMahon said.

• RELATED STORY: Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Says Plans For Downtown Movie Theater 'A Definite Go' (9/26/2018)

While the architectural designs of the actual theater are not yet complete, it's expected that these six screens are going to be located on two separate floors with an escalator running in between.

As for the accommodations inside, expect plush seats and, of course, wine and beer and good stuff to eat.

As for parking downtown?

"The reality, of course, is it's really not an issue," McMahon said.

It's free after 6 p.m. on the street or $6 in a parking authority garage.

The total project cost is $11 million, of which $8 million is already raised.

Naming rights for each screen is $1 million bucks and $5 million for the whole complex.

And the opening date?

"Probably we won't be going to see first-run movies downtown for at least a couple of years," McMahon said.

That's 2021 at the earliest.