KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | Midland's Bringing More Entertainment to the Younger Crowds

By Jen Kastner
NewsWest 9

MIDLAND- Right now, the area off Loop 250 and Business 20 is just an open dirt field. However, in about a month, developers will break ground on a mission to create Cinergy Cinema.

This week, the decked out movie theater jumped through some zoning hoops, getting it one step closer to becoming a reality.

If you haven't caught wind, this theater is going to be fully loaded with the biggest screens between Dallas and Phoenix, leather seats, a full menu, alcohol, bowling, laser tag, a ropes course and so on.

The younger crowd has been begging for more entertainment. Now, it's happening.

Bobby Burns with the Midland Chamber of Commerce says, "The younger generation really demands the theaters and the opportunities to walk around downtown so I think it's incumbent for Midland's leaders to make Midland expand and grow and we have higher expectations."

With the boom comes more people and many of them are young. Midland's trying to meet their demands.

"This economy is about as hot as it can be. [It's] one of the top five fastest growing economies in the nation so people are looking at Midland and the entertainment options are beginning to come," Burns said.

What do young people want?

"They really want the ability to get outdoors. The  [want] the ability to exercise [and] the ability to shop where they can walk to it. So, I think if we can revitalize downtown and really create that [scene] where there's restaurants then I think a lot of things could happen downtown but that's a long term project," Burns said.

The City of Midland's Planning and Zoning says they want restaurants and theaters, but also more for the 21 and up crowd.

"We've seen an application for a number of nightclubs in the downtown area," Ken Van Dyne with the City of Midland Planning and Zoning, said.

They also want to bring folks out to enjoy the parks.

"Friday night movie in the parks. Friday night or Saturday night in the park. We're kind of taking a look at something like that," Van Dyne said.

Developers are knocking on their door. Planning and Zoning is busier than ever.

"Currently, we have a number of projects in the works. Our caseload is probably in the area of 90 active projects," Van Dyne said.

Cinergy Cinema is expected to be complete sometime around Thanksgiving of 2012.