The Century 14 Theatre in Sparks closed on Sept. 29 2016.
The Sparks City Council approved an agreement with Syufy Enterprises, the owner of the Victorian Square Cinema building, to provide up to $1,500,000 in lodging tax proceeds for the renovation and re-opening of the Victorian Square Cinema Property. Based on discussions between Syufy and Galaxy Theatres, the agreement will allow Galaxy Theatres to undertake a major renovation of the theatre with a re-opening later this summer.
“We are thrilled that Galaxy will have a second location in Sparks,” said Sparks Mayor Geno Martini in a press release. “The Sparks IMAX Luxury Theatre at the Outlets at Legends has been an overwhelming success for our City. We can’t wait to see the benefits Galaxy will bring to the Victorian Square Cinema as well,” he said.
The approved agreement calls for the City to provide $1,000,000 in lodging tax proceeds upon the opening of all 14 auditoriums in the theatre. The City will provide $100,000 per year for five years as long as the theatre remains open to the public. Prior to the initial payment, Syufy Enterprises will provide the City a memorandum of lease between Syufy Enterprises and Galaxy Theatres for the Victorian Square cinema property for an initial lease term of at least 10 years.
The terms for the provision of financial assistance to the cinema project calls for Syufy and Galaxy to collectively invest at least $6,100,000, while the City would contribute $1,500,000 from lodging taxes. Funding does not come from the City’s general fund. Lodging tax proceeds is derived from a 2.5 percent tax on the gross receipts from transient lodging (hotel rooms) in the City of Sparks. The lodging tax is paid to the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority which distributes the proceeds to the City Council of Sparks and can only be used for capital improvements at Victorian Square, the City’s redevelopment area one.
