A three-screen movie theater and retail store opened this month on Lancaster Boulevard, another sign of the revitalization effort taking place in the downtown area. The Laemmle BLVD Theatre and apparel store Forge were developed by Scott Ehrlich, owner of InSite Development, which has developed several upscale projects in downtown Lancaster. Ehrlich will operate the theater and Laemmle Theatres will provide the film programming. The theater offers reclining love seats, food and liquor service — amenities not found in venues that Laemmle operates. “If we can provide L.A. quality things, (the public) will come as long as it is at the right price,” Ehrlich said. The theater expands the entertainment offerings downtown, which for many years has been limited to performances at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center. “(The new theater) shows we are able to accommodate the diversity of the people who live here,” said Jill Cooper, the president of The BLVD. Association, a business owners group for the downtown area. Ehrlich said the idea to develop a theater that shows independent films came from a conversation he had with Lancaster Vice Mayor Ron Smith. The city, Smith told Ehrlich, used to host a film festival and it would be great to have a theater that showed films that do not receive wide distribution. Partnering with Laemmle was a good fit, because the chain specializes in showing independent films and helps to authenticate the theater, Ehrlich said. The agreement between Laemmle and Ehrlich is similar to others the chain has struck with other small theaters, said Greg Laemmle, chief executive officer of Laemmle Theatres. “We like to think these types of films will appeal to everyone and that includes the audiences in Lancaster,” Laemmle said. Laemmle said the company currently is an expansion mode in parts of the Valley. It has a seven-screen project underway in North Hollywood and a five-screen theater project in Glendale. Having another developer build a theater Lancaster was the only way the Laemmle brand could come to the Antelope Valley, Laemmle said. “We could not be actively involved in this project given our other projects,” Laemmle said. The retail component of the three-story building was originally planned to be a bookstore. Given the challenging market for booksellers the store concept was changed, Ehrlich said, noting the current store sells apparel as well as kitchen items, books, magazines and gourmet foods. With the theater open, Ehrlich moves on to his next downtown projects – brew pub Kinetic, which opens in two months, and installing 24 kiosks to add to the retail mix of Lancaster Boulevard.
Curtain Rises at Lancaster Theater
