CAMARILLO : Cineplex to Open Tonight in Mission Oaks

Construction workers Thursday scrambled to finish last-minute details on the 11-screen United Artists cineplex in Camarillo’s Mission Oaks area, which is scheduled to open tonight.

Delayed by about four weeks because of the heavy rains that lashed the county in March, company officials said they put the 100-member construction crew on double shifts and paid substantial overtime wages to meet tonight’s opening deadline.

The 2,625-seat complex, near the corner of Adolfo Road and Camino Ruiz, will feature wall-to-wall screens, digital sound equipment and state-of-the-art projection equipment, according to manager Jenifer Grove.

“We are very excited about this facility,” Grove said. “Our focus is going to be totally on customer service. We think our patrons are really going to enjoy going to the movies here.”

The $5.5-million theater complex will include wider seats with cup holders, three large concession stands and in the lobby, a bank of video screens showing previews of coming attractions. Below the video screens are electric signs which when activated show that a particular movie theater is “now seating,” much like the “now boarding” signs found in airport terminals.

The largest of the theaters will seat about 500 people, the smallest a little more than 100.

The beige 38,800-square-foot, mission-style building has vaulted, arched ceilings inside, which are accented by decorative blue neon.

Tonight’s opening, which will feature the anticipated blockbuster “Die Hard With a Vengeance” starring Bruce Willis, marks the second entry of a large theater operator into western Ventura County.

Just a few miles away, the opulent 12-screen Edwards Theatres cineplex opened to warm reviews late last December. And in the city of Ventura, officials there are envisioning a cineplex with as many as 20 screens to be the anchor tenant of a much-debated plan to revitalize the city’s old downtown area.

In addition to the $8-million Edwards facility, which is located on Ventura Boulevard between Las Posas Road and Carmen Drive, the new United Artists complex will also encounter some limited competition from the city’s first movie house, the three-screen Camarillo Cinemas.

Officials of the little theater, located in the Paseo Camarillo shopping center off Daily Drive, said recently that they were considering changing their theater’s format so as to show only “art” and classic films--an element of the movie exhibition market that is underserved in the county.