PLANS for a $70 million cinema and entertainment complex in Junction Place have finally been submitted to Wodonga Council for approval.
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Developers Central Place lodged the planning application with council last Friday with tentative plans to open the latest United Cinema on the corner of Elgin Boulevard and Smythe Street on Boxing Day next year.
United Cinemas founder Roy Mustaca and son Sam on Monday toured the site of their proposed 10-cinema screens with two-tier seating, function areas, karaoke rooms, bar, children’s playspace area including bumper cars, laser tag, arcade games, pool tables and bowling alley.
Dining options will also be available on the ground floor.
“We wanted to get into a regional market and hopefully we’ve come with some plans that we can get some quick support for and get this thing out of the ground,” United Cinemas chief executive Sam Mustaca said.
“They will be things this community hasn’t seen before. You want to please the people and you want it at a price point people can afford.
“This is a country town, but a large regional area.”
Roy Mustaca, a singer and song-writer, founded United Cinemas more than three decades ago and the company owns nine other cinemas nationally with a further 12 in the pipeline in both Australia and New Zealand.
“We are hoping we can give you the very best in the world here in Wodonga,” he said.
“Service is the most important thing.
“You’ve got to make people welcome and that is something we are very good at.
“But we also have the very best equipment, the best in the world.”
Plans to build a cinema in Wodonga date back to the late 2000s when council announced plans for a joint venture with private investors to build an eight-screen cinema, housing and entertainment on the council carpark land before being shelved.
Mayor Anna Speedie hoped the planning application could be processed as soon as possible.
“From a first draft the plans have come a considerable way,” she said.
“We’ve got to make sure we get it absolutely right.
“But hearing someone from the private sector wants to come into our own town and deliver word-class facilities is fantastic.”
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