Movie Theater Not Off the Table for Loganville, City Officials Say

When Carmike Cinemas announced Feb. 28 that construction will begin soon on a new Carmike Cinemas complex in Snellville, residents in Loganville were  disappointed.

"So Snellville really needs a another movie theater?" Cindy Stoval wrote on Patch. "They already have three plus two more within about 6-7 miles in Lawrenceville. Poor Walton County has nothing to offer its residents."

going so far as to post on its website that it would be coming to Loganville. That, however, went quiet with the website then going on to list Snellville as the location that will be getting the new BigD experience. The closest one to the local area at the moment is the one in Bethlehem that opened last year. Loganville officials realized it was unlikely that Carmike would locate to Loganville with two other movie complexes so close.

But don't give up just yet, city officials say. In fact, Loganville City Manager Bill Jones and Councilman Skip Baliles have very recently been in discussions with another movie theatre company. Jones reported at the last city council meeting that he and Baliles had already met with Georgia Theatre Company. Baliles said it was a positive meeting.

"City Manager Bill Jones and I had the opportunity to visit the president of Georgia Theatre Company at St. Simons Island. While we would enjoy reporting a theatre has agreed to come to Loganville, the facts are we did get a commitment from Mr. Bo Chambliss, that his company would 'take another look at our city to see if we fit into their future plans,'" Baliles said. "While it was really rewarding to be proactive in the city's efforts, this is not a sure thing, but hopefully a step in the right direction."

Georgia Theatre Company is currently building a 16 theater complex in neighboring Oconee County with plans to open by memorial day.

Baliles went on to point out some of the other positive steps the city is taking to make Loganville a better place to "work, play and live."

"The 'Town Green' efforts are being seen by many of our citizens, building sidewalks into locations to allow more exercise opportunities, bringing package stores to our city versus having to drive to other cities for our needs, establishing incentives for businesses to locate in Loganville and attempting to reinforce the perception of Loganville as a City that is business friendly," Baliles said. "We know our City is going to continue to grow based on the 116 percent population growth in the last census, but we would like to manage this growth in order to make our city a place that all of our citizens can be proud to live."

Baliles said work is proceeding well on the town green and asked that residents be prepared to attend a grand opening of the complex on July 4 in conjunction with the big Independence Day Parade and celebration.