3-D theater tabled

Absence of council member leads to Oct. 11 determination

Members of the Williams city council opted to pass on a request by Paul Fraser of Blaze Partners, LLC, to make a decision regarding the location of the proposed 3-D theater during their regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 11.

Fraser, who represents MacGillivray-Freeman Films, producers of the 3-D film, "Grand Canyon Adventure 3-D," asked council members to make a determination on the location in order for the group to move forward on the project. Due to the absence of councilman Don Dent, however, council members opted to shelve a decision until every member of council could be available for the vote. Dent was the only councilmember not present for the Oct. 11 meeting.

"I'm going to vote against this, not against your project," Vice Mayor Bernie Heimenz told Fraser Oct. 11. "I think that Don Dent should be sitting here when we make this decision."

"I think this is a very important decision and I think everyone in council should be here," Councilman John Moore said, who added his support for the project as well.

Council members rescheduled the vote for their next regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 25 when all members would be present.

The decision came after a lengthy presentation from Fraser, in which he explained the particulars of the project and why their chosen location would be ideal for the theater. Many council members agreed with Fraser that the chosen location would be a suitable fit for Williams, but did not feel comfortable making a commitment without every member present. That decision would also be contingent upon the purchase of nearby railroad property. Dent has expressed his opposition to the project in the past.

"Councilman Dent couldn't be here Mayor Ken Edes said. "He wrote a letter to share his feeling on the subject and I want to read it in public record, 'To the Williams City Council and public, the proposed 3-D theater for Williams is an exciting possible addition to our community. I believe the only issue is location. The proposed location next to the Visitor's Center is the preferred location of the applicants, as it would be for anyone looking to find a prime location downtown. The applicant has stated that this location is the only location that's acceptable, so that they can have a joint marketing agreement with Grand Canyon Railway. We've been told that Grand Canyon Railway is not interested in a joint marketing agreement. I am not excited about putting any business next to the Visitors' Center. I believe we will only create more parking and congestion problems than we already have downtown. I believe that we should be looking to expand our downtown, not cram more into an already congested area. If we are ever going to put any business on the Visitors' Center location, it should be one that will draw visitors itself, not just feed off the visitors that are already here. I do not see that this theater is an attraction to draw extra people to town. I am very willing to work to make this theater come to Williams, but not at the Visitors' Center location. Thank you for listening, Councilman Don Dent.'"

Edes added that Dent's comments were written prior to his review of the latest proposals for the theater.

"It was after he and I had a long discussion about it," Edes said. "He agrees that the proposal would address some of the congestion, but his main problem is that that is probably the piece of prime real estate in Williams."

Fraser said the agreement spoken of between the Grand Canyon Railway and the 3-D theater was not something that had fallen to the wayside.

"That's simply not true," Fraser said. "As recently as yesterday I had another conversation with somebody in a very responsible position about a very specific marketing opportunity."

Edes said he would not support an open proposal format that would allow other businesses, besides the 3-D theater, to bid on the land as well.

"We have a precedent and we have state statute that we can lease to specific entities as long as we can prove that we are not giving them an exception that we wouldn't give anybody else - fair market value," Edes said.

"It's really important that this project stays in Williams and doesn't get moved elsewhere," Councilman James Wurgler said.

Officials with MacGilli-vray-Freeman films hope to build their 3-D Theater next to the Williams Forest Service Visitors' Center, but would only do so contingent upon access and suitable parking. A majority of the theater's parking issues rests on the results of a land acquisition between Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) and the city of Williams. Officials with the city of Williams said the final determination on that land acquisition could take as long as 30 days.

"They have a bureaucratic process and in 30 days they said they would have an answer whether they would sell the land to Williams; yes or no," said Williams City Manager Dennis Wells.

Should the BNSF deal fall through, or should city officials not allow the theater to go in at their chosen location, Fraser said the theater would not be built in Williams.

"The downtown location actually gives us the best geographic chance to work with the maximum number of merchants in town in terms of cross promotions," Fraser said. "If they (BNSF) said no, then we don't have a project in Williams."

More information on the film can be found online at www.macfreefilms.com/3dtheater.