Movie Lounge on track for pre-Thanksgiving opening

The Movie Lounge website succinctly offers four basic promises.

“Fine. Food. Film.” And that the opening is “Coming Soon,” with soon being sometime before Thanksgiving.

“Our plans are well along the way to meeting that,” Greg Fernholz, general manager for the project, said Friday (June 24).

The project, in the works for more than a year, was officially on go following a Jan. 4 rezoning by the Fort Smith Board of Directors. The rezoning allowed Dwight Curry and Lynn Curry Weidman to move forward on an estimated $2.6 million project that will create up to 60 full-time jobs and promises to deliver a unique dining and entertainment venue to the region. The space may also have up to 20 part-time employees, depending on seasonal work, Fernholz said.

The Movie Lounge is now under construction in the former Circuit City store at 7601 Rogers Ave., with three spaces under one roof, Curry said during a brief interview on Friday. The spaces are:
• A conference-banquet-meeting space, able to cater to 20 to 300 people;
• 120-seat restaurant and bar capable of including live entertainment; and,
• Two “high-end, luxury” movie screens capable of seating 85 each, along with a smaller third theater space.

The menu at the restaurant promises to offer “the best in seafood, steaks, and classic regional favorites,” according to a fact sheet prepared by Fernholz.

Curry is excited about the “alternative programming” the theater space will provide. The screens will offer independent films now available in Tulsa and Little Rock. The space will support live feeds of concerts — to include popular concerts, performances of the Boston Pops — fundraising-related events and other unique offerings now unavailable in the Fort Smith region.

“That will be a draw beyond just Fort Smith,” Curry explained. “The closest place to see this (alternative programming) is Tulsa, or Little Rock or in the Dallas area.”

The third theater space will provide “box seat” furnishings in a 750-square-foot space with a 15-foot screen that, according to Curry and Fernholz, will be “perfect” for corporate events, Super Bowl parties and other intimate gatherings.

Catering to businesses is a big part of the meeting area and the smaller theater space.

“One the business side we will feature theaters, for teleconferencing, symposiums, business meetings and lectures. State of the art WIFI, and connectivity will make your event run smoothly and effectively,” noted Fernholz’s fact sheet.

To encourage use of the spaces, Fernholz is building relationships with several nearby hotels that cater to the business traveler but have limited space. Curry said the relationships will obviously help The Movie Lounge, but should be a selling point for hotels trying to recruit business travelers.

“They will be able to market their hotel using our space,” Curry said, adding that Fort Smith hotels will have access to space that many larger cities don’t have.

Having the restaurant and a focus on recruiting local and out-of-area business use will allow The Movie Lounge to recruit and retain an important asset.

“With all this, the restaurant open daily and the catering … we can keep a good chef here. That is important to this concept,” Curry said.

Curry and Fernholz are sensitive to what the national economic downturn and slow recovery has done to the tourism and travel sector. But Curry, whose primary business is the lodging industry, argues that “the high-end properties, the luxury brands are not suffering.” He believes a high-end approach to entertainment and business support in the Fort Smith, known for being a blue-collar town, will fill a niche and attract customers from outside the region.

“Having said that, we are very sensitive that people are price aware right now. That’s why you will see, on our menus, and other things, you will see a wide range of prices,” Curry said.

Curry and Fernholz said The Movie Lounge will be just as comfortable for those entering in a tux or gown as it will be for those wearing blue jeans.