Violet Crown Under Construction

Construction work is under way on the Violet Crown Cinema, one of the newest additions to Downtown. When owner and operator Bill Banowsky offered to show me around the building site and explain his vision for the forthcoming venue, I grabbed my hard hat and skipped down to Second Street for a pre-Thanksgiving treat. Banowsky, a former chief executive officer with Landmark Theatres, a founder of Magnolia Pictures, and founder and owner of Carolina Cinemas, knows his way around a movie theatre. The Violet Crown will program arthouse movies and is located on West Second Street on the second floor of the AMLI building. An attached parking garage will provide easy access and permit four hours of free parking with ticket validation.

Banowsky explains that there will be four auditoriums, with roughly 50 seats each and full stadium seating. "We'll have a very large bar and cafe area," he says, with three discrete areas and an outdoor patio that will serve "really great and affordable wines, cocktails, and beers." There will also be "some nice, hearty, and quality appetizers and traditional cinema concession items as well." There won't be waiters inside the auditoriums, but "we will have seats with tables on them, however, and encourage people to bring food and drink inside the auditoriums." Banowsky is adamant that the theatre will be commercial-free and plans a soft opening in March 2011.