Besides its new stores and expanded food court, Westshore Plaza, which recently unveiled a billboard in St. Petersburg promoting its valet parking and other amenities, has a new 14-screen AMC theater. No renovations are being planned for AMC's older, smaller theaters at Tyrone Square Mall and nearby Crossroads Shopping Center, said Rick King, AMC senior vice president of corporate communication. King conceded that BayWalk's 20-screen Muvico theater, with SurroundSound and stadium seating, could affect AMC's St. Petersburg facilities. There is some portion of the audience that prefers the older theaters for convenience or out of habit, but in most cases, the audiences have expressed a strong preference for the megaplexes. I wish them the very best, but almost without fail, when I see a theater built in the downtown revitalization market, it doesn't work.
People seem to prefer to go to a movie more in their neighborhood.
I look at it as I do baseball. They don't want the people to go outside. Most of the people are going to stay in there. They want to try the new places. Still, Bertoni hopes that businesses surrounding BayWalk eventually will benefit from the good fortune of their new neighbor.