Coming Attraction: Front Street Movie Theater

The theater will also include a restaurant

After years of delays and doubt, Hartford’s Front Street project is finally moving forward. 

Construction has begun on a new movie theater planned to open later this year.

"You're walking into the restaurant section. This is where our bar will be," said Joe Paletta, the owner of Spotlight Theatres.

The 23,000-square-foot site sits across from the Connecticut Convention Center in downtown Hartford.

"We're going to have product that is more of an art and crossover type product, things like Kings Speech or Black Swan," said Paletta.

When construction wraps up, there will be four auditoriums in the facility with about 800 total stadium seats.  The facility will also have party rooms and its own 75-seat restaurant, according to Paletta. 

There will be no box office.  Instead, customers can either buy tickets online, at a kiosk just outside the theater, or at the concession stand.  Customers will also be able to take food from both the restaurant and concession stand into the auditoriums, he said.

"We're going to redefine the way people go to the movies here,” said Paletta.

The facility will be entirely digital and they’re planning to have a glass server room to show off the high-end equipment.  "It would be a shame to put that into a dark room somewhere where nobody can appreciate it," said Paletta.

After seeing the site empty for years, workers in the area say they’re pleased with the progress.

"It looks pretty good for the area. There's other stuff around here so it kind of finishes up the street," said Dan Watterson, who lives in Norwich and works near the Front Street site.

Construction at the theater is expected to wrap up in September.  It’s now planned to open in October.

The facility will create about 50 to 60 jobs.  Five of them will be full-time positions and the rest will be part-time jobs. Hiring will take place later this year.
           
"It's been a long time coming. We've been working on this project for many, many months," said Paletta.

They are hoping to attract 250,000 to 300,000 customers a year, he said.

For now, the rest of the Front Street site remains vacant. 

Developers are hoping a national restaurant chain and another entertainment venue will open here next year, according to Peter Christian, of the H.B. Nitkin Group.  Those deals are still in the works, he said.

Contact Us