Those pesky Richland government types, actually had ownership of everything on the Columbia River Side of the highway. Once you cross the highway, it becomes Kennewick.
My understanding was that the Columbia Center development was a bitter pill to swallow, in that Kennewick had the vision, and Richland did not. Not sure of the politics,but Richland owned everything riverside, including the Island View Drive in. They were not real happy they missed the boat on developing the premier shopping area for all 3 cities.
So much, that the development that Metro 4 was in was named “Columbia Center North” for quite a while.
When the M4 opened, it was not SRO, it was another chain. TOI I believe, Theatre Operators Incorporated, SRO (Sterling Recreation Organization owned by the Danz family out of Bellevue, same company that owned radio station KALE and OK-95) bought it in its first week of operation, in order to keep its lock on the Tri-Cities movie goers.
Horrible seating, with the aisle right down the middle and undersized screens, and no stereo sound, but at the time, no one really complained…
Those pesky Richland government types, actually had ownership of everything on the Columbia River Side of the highway. Once you cross the highway, it becomes Kennewick.
My understanding was that the Columbia Center development was a bitter pill to swallow, in that Kennewick had the vision, and Richland did not. Not sure of the politics,but Richland owned everything riverside, including the Island View Drive in. They were not real happy they missed the boat on developing the premier shopping area for all 3 cities. So much, that the development that Metro 4 was in was named “Columbia Center North” for quite a while. When the M4 opened, it was not SRO, it was another chain. TOI I believe, Theatre Operators Incorporated, SRO (Sterling Recreation Organization owned by the Danz family out of Bellevue, same company that owned radio station KALE and OK-95) bought it in its first week of operation, in order to keep its lock on the Tri-Cities movie goers.
Horrible seating, with the aisle right down the middle and undersized screens, and no stereo sound, but at the time, no one really complained…
The original seat counts were 839 seats in #1, 239 in #2 and 424 in #3, there were only 3 auditoriums at this location.