Construction moving along at the Hastings Theatre District

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Construction is moving along at the Hastings Theatre District, and pretty soon, the actual theatre will be back up and running with an practically entirely new look.

The building has a new roof, a new HVAC system, a new paint job, new screens have been installed and more.

There are a total of three auditoriums, which will be filled with reclining seats.

The theater is expected to open around November 1 as ‘Golden Ticket Cinemas Hastings 3.’

Despite the theater closing down in previous years, Tom Huston, attorney for property developer Perry Reid Properties said, the Hastings community is ready for a new beginning to the former Imperial Theatre.

“Based on what we understand, that the Hastings market, I think there’s plenty of room for this theater getting restarted and the existing theaters,” Huston noted. “I mean, I think the market demographics show that there’s a lot of residents that go out of town to see movies— well, we don’t need to do that.”

In addition to the theatre, construction to one of two multifamily apartments is underway. Both will be located right where the Imperial Mall used to be.

Huston said the idea of rebuilding the site of an old mall isn’t something unique to Hastings.

“We see this happening around the country, the repurposing of urban malls or, suburban malls and… there’s a lot of different mixed uses that are being brought to the table,” he said. “Whether it’s hospitality with hotels or residential with multifamily housing.”

The first set of apartments is expected to be completed sometime in spring 2023 and will be available to people ages 55 and up. Next spring is also when construction is planned to begin for the second apartment building. This building is planned to be for available to all ages old enough to rent out an apartment. Both buildings will be ‘L’ shaped and, altogether, will offer up around 150 units for rent.

Another part of the phase one includes renovation to exterior of the former Sun Mart building, which Huston said already has potential tenants expressing interest to leasing out the space.

Huston told Local4 News there’s also been talks of a restaurant eventually moving into the property. Additionally, he said they hope to bring a grocery store to the Theatre District as well.

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