The Regal Riviera: Downtown's cine-flex

Regal Riviera 8Many Knoxvillians have memories of going to the Riviera Theatre on Gay Street to see George Lazenby’s single turn as James Bond in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” or to watch Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn play games in “Charade” or even to see Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh trade barbs and kisses in “Gone With the Wind.” Now, the Regal Entertainment Group wants moviegoers to think new when they think “Riviera.”

More than 31 years after the old Riviera ceased operations, the Regal Riviera Stadium 8 opens its doors officially today. Digital sound, stadium seating, rocking high-back seats and retractable cup-holder armrests are just part of Regal’s plan to draw patrons to Knoxville’s first new downtown theater in nearly 40 years.

“We’re going to play midnights down here at first to see if that can catch on,” says Robbie Arrington, a marketing manager with Regal. He adds that the theater is considering “instead of having the traditional 4 and 7 o’clock shows, trying to get some that start right after 5 (to entice) some of the office crowd that may want to catch a flick before they go home.

“We’re working with some of the downtown groups … doing different activities for them.”

The Riviera may even poach a bit on the art-film turf that’s been virtually an exclusive of Regal’s Downtown West.

“Currently, the plan is to book everything,” says Arrington. “The plan is to see who our audience is, what the audience is coming out to support and then feed that audience. But from the start, it will have a variety of different types of products to test and to see what people want and are willing to support.

“ ‘Get the building open’ is the mentality for right now and then see what we’re missing, what needs to change, and then just be flexible from there. This theater’s all about flexibility: the types of films that we’re going to be showing, having that midnight show to see if it plays. You’ve really got to learn the crowd, and by using our Crown Club database — seeing who comes down here, where they’re coming from, who’s not coming — then you’ll have more of a feel of what you need to reach out.”

(The Regal Crown Club offers free membership to moviegoers who register and provides rewards based on money spent on tickets and concessions.)

Regal hasn’t opened a theater with as few as eight screens in Arrington’s memory, and the last downtown theater the Knoxville-based exhibitor built was in Boise, Idaho, “a few years ago,” he says. The trend has been toward double-digit multiplexes in sprawling suburban areas. Only the mix of public and private funds in the project — which is intended to jumpstart the revival of the 500 block of Gay Street — and the city’s solid support persuaded Regal, the world’s largest theater chain, to agree to come on board.

There have been no official surveys taken in neighborhoods closest to the Riviera to see if residents intend to patronize the theater. But since South Knoxvillians and residents in the downtown and center-city areas have to travel seven or more miles — often through I-40 construction zones — to theaters in East or West Knoxville, there’s a sense that a downtown theater will fill a need.

“We know South Knoxville is underserved. We know that UT would love to have a theater closer to them than West Town or Knoxville Center,” says Arrington, who notes that the Riviera will offer a ticket discount for students. “So we really feel there is an audience for this.”

Downtown itself, while still low in population, is gaining favor as a place to live and play.

“The way downtown has progressed over the past few years, there’s more people coming into downtown to make it more of a destination instead of just, ‘Oh, we’re getting off of work and we’re going to stay over,’” says Arrington. “We feel downtown … will continue to grow, especially with the beautiful theater to give them something more to do down here.

“It’s fun to come downtown. It’s fun to see what’s new. It’s fun to see them renovating ‘that’ building. Stop over at Sapphire. Stop over at one of the other restaurants or bars afterward. It’s just a fun atmosphere.”

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.