Can you smell the popcorn yet? Twin Creeks Cinema 10 on track for spring opening

CRESTVIEW, FL - The developer of the Twin Creeks Crossing shopping center and movie theatre rapidly taking shape off Richbourg Lane recently answered the burning question local cinema-goers have been eager to have addressed.

“Several screens will be digital,” confirmed Jack Jernigan, a partner with Nels Offerdahl who will be the Twin Creeks Cinema 10 operator.

Offerdahl owns two other multiple-screen cinemas in the Panhandle, including the Ridge Cinema 8 in Pace and the Gulf Breeze Cinema 4. He also operates several movie theatres in his native Louisiana.

“He’s a great (cinema) operator,” Jernigan enthused.

Progress has been rapid at the Twin Creeks Crossing site, which just a few short months ago was a forest off quiet, residential Richbourg Lane. The developers originally planned to use the new street adjacent to the Marquis Self-Storage business as their shopping center’s main entrance, however it is currently unavailable to them.

The new street, which presently dead ends at the Twin Creeks property line, could be used in the future as part of an exit loop from the shopping center, Jernigan said.

“We’re going to widen Richbourg Lane,” Jernigan explained, after utilities serving Twin Creeks Crossing are installed. These include sewer tie-ins to the city of Crestview’s system, which developers were able to negotiate with the city when county services were unavailable. A stoplight will be installed to help control traffic at Richbourg and S.R. 85.

Jernigan said the 10-screen movie theatre is still scheduled for an April 2010 opening, with the retail center planned to open in early summer. He praised area officials who have worked with the developers to realize the project.

“The county really worked hard to help us get started,” Jernigan said. “The city’s been great. They have been super.”

While the cinema has most piqued area movie lovers’ considerable interest, Twin Creeks Crossing will also contain a shopping center.

“We are just a few days away from being in a position to going out and talking to people about pre-leases on the retail center next to the cinema,” Jernigan said. “We want to pick out certain types of businesses that will really synergize with the cinema.”

While more shopping opportunities will be welcomed, it’s the cinema that most grabs the attention of local moviegoers such as recent Crestview High grad Jeremy Mitchell and his friends.

“We have a theatre in Crestview, but we’d rather drive to Destin. It’s nicer,” Mitchell said. “With this new theatre coming, I wouldn’t see the reason to drive that far anymore.”