Clifton Park movie theater to get upgrades

Regal Cinemas is planning to fully modernize its theaters at Clifton Park Center and expand from eight screens to 10.

The expansion and upgrading of the cinemas, including 3-D technology, is part of a larger mall improvement project by DCG Development Corp. that includes a five-story, 100-room hotel near the cinemas on the west side of the mall facing Clifton Country Road.

DCG officials said Thursday that other mall improvements, in addition to the Regal expansion and new hotel, will be announced early next month. The hotel project was announced earlier this year, but the corporate name of the hotel chain has not been released.

Representatives of DCG Development of Clifton Park attended Wednesday’s Clifton Park Planning Board meeting for a pre-application conference to outline the Regal Cinemas plans to the board.

John Scavo, town planning director, said the cinemas will be transformed from a 1980s theater to a “state of the art” theater with new seating, projection and sound equipment and 3-D technology under the DCG Development plan.

The exterior portion of the cinemas will be expanded by 8,000 square feet with a new facade, and the theaters will take up more space inside the existing mall footprint.

Scavo said DCG will be back at the Planning Board’s August meeting with a full application. He said the board members had no negative feedback about the improvements but the project will still require the board’s site plan approval.

The idea is to improve the Regal Cinemas in Clifton Park so they exceed or rival movie theaters at malls in Albany County. Saratoga County residents can then spend their entertainment money in their own county and keep the sales tax revenue in the county, Scavo said.

Rick Eaglestone, DCG’s vice president for leasing, said the company is excited about this latest phase of Clifton Park Center’s modernization and improvement. But he said DCG Development is not commenting on the overall expansion and improvement plan until early August.

“It’s not just the cinema and hotel but more,” Eaglestone said.

The mall has been significantly redeveloped and redesigned by DCG over the past four years so that many of the stores have their own exterior fronts facing the parking lots. The mall was called Clifton Country Mall before DCG bought and renamed it.

In March, the town Planning Board approved the design of the back facade of the hotel, which will rise four stories above the current mall buildings and be visible from the Northway near Exit 9.

Donald MacElroy, DCG’s vice president, said in March that the construction of the 100-room hotel, which will feature banquet facilities, will be coordinated with other mall redesign and improvement projects that will include new mall tenants.

Clifton Park is currently the home of at least four other national-chain hotels and motor inns. DCG officials said the upscale hotel’s location near the renovated Clifton Park Center is expected to be attractive for guests. There are nearby shopping, restaurant and entertainment opportunities in this busy area of the town, which is less than a mile from Northway Exit 9.