Friday, April 2, 2004
|
Friday, April 2, 2004 |
| Theater razed for restaurant site By J. FRANK LYNCH Peachtree City’s shuttered Westpark Walk Cinemas is no more. Demolition crews began knocking down the closed three-screen Carmike theater this week to make room for renovations and a new addition to the retail complex on the prominent northeast corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Ga. Highway 74. Carrabba’s Italian Grill will be the primary tenant for the new building. Plans submitted to the city show the chain restaurant locating on the far north end of the retail center away from the popular Pascal’s Bistro, said Clyde Stricklin, Development Services Director for Peachtree City. The two restaurants will be seperated by a strip of new retail stores, Stricklin said. The site plans for the Westpark Walk construction are scheduled to come before the city’s Planning Commission for approval April 12, Stricklin said. Though the application lacked details, Stricklin said his understanding was the new construction would make an attempt to blend with the present look of Westpark Walk while updating the architecture somewhat. He was unsure if this marked the first phase of a wholesale overhaul of Westpark Walk, which was considered avant garde when it first opened in the mid-1980s. The dated, blue-roofed design of the prominent piece of real estate had faded in recent years and it has struggled to maintain quality tenants, competing with the popular Avenue-Peachtree City across the busy intersection. While demolition is a rare sight in Peachtree City, Stricklin said the developer had little other option. “They tried for several years to find somebody new to go in there and take it over, but it’s difficult to replace a closed movie theater,” said Stricklin. “With the sloping floors and all, there’s just so much you can do.” The owner plans to clear and level the former Carmike site while plans for the new construction wind their way through the city’s development process. “It will be like an empty lot sitting there waiting for a building to be developed on it,” said Stricklin. Peachtree City’s store will be the fifth Carrabba’s location in Metro Atlanta, with others at Cumberland, Gwinnett, Kennesaw and Southlake. The restaurant was founded in 1986 by Texas friends Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola, who also host a popular PBS cooking show, “Cucina Sicilia.”
| ||