The Celebration! Cinema team prides itself in fulfilling the slogan, “Where Story Happens…” Well, here’s a story that date night fans especially can wrap their arms around. After nearly $2-million in upgrades, the Celebration! Cinema movie going experience is soaring in Benton Harbor. Are you ready for a Pretty Woman cocktail, a glass of Lemon Creek Winery’s Silver Beach Sauterne or a craft beer from Silver Harbor or North Pier Brewing with your movie?
The multiplex theater, which recently completed a more than $1.6-million seating upgrade to all oversized recliners in every theater in the house, is putting the finishing touches today on an expanded concession bistro that will serve restaurant-style food and adult (alcoholic) beverages beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, September 27th. It’s quite the anniversary milestone for the 20-year old theater complex.
Steve VanWagoner is Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations at Celebration! Cinema, headquartered in Grand Rapids. He says the new food and beverage upgrade ran $200,000, bringing the theater enhancement and refinement project in Benton Harbor to more than $1.8-million.
The expanded menu not only offers more restaurant offerings like Margherita flatbread pizza, Cheesy Breadsticks, Funnel Cake Fries, wraps, salads, loaded mac & cheese, sliders, quesadillas and lots more…it also represents the first time ever that alcohol will be served at the Benton Township entertainment complex located on Cinema Way next to Best Buy. The theater successfully lobbied Benton Township authorities for the opportunity to apply for a liquor license. It marks the fifth Celebration! complex to add what VanWagoner calls “enhanced food and beverage.”
What had been the game room off the lobby at Celebration! in Benton Harbor will now be a seating area for those who prefer to sit down and enjoy their meal before or after a movie. However, if you’d like to enjoy your food during the movie, you can order at the concession stand and have a text sent your way when your meal is ready, or — even more conveniently — have the finished product delivered right to your seat inside the theater.
The theater has been undergoing a transformation for the better part of the summer with first the new seating project and now the expanded kitchen and bar. The kitchen expansion is to the left of the main concession stand while the bar service with beer taps and other beverage offerings are to the right of the concession counter. There are nine wines on the menu both reds and whites, two Sangrias, and a variety of beers in bottles, cans or on tap including domestic and import brands and craft brews. Additionally, there is a full bar for cocktails including seven specialty drinks like The Casablanca, The Matador, and the American Hustle.
All Celebration! Cinema theater complexes state wide are under the Loeks Theatres, Inc. flag. The flagship theater in Grand Rapids was the first to apply for, and obtain, a liquor license nearly 15-years ago.
The dramatic improvements at Celebration! Cinema in Benton Harbor are unprecedented for our area, and VanWagoner continues to assure parents that additional measures are being taken to assure that alcohol is not misused in any of the theaters. A prime example he points to is that while soft drinks utilize opaque paper cups, any alcohol served will be in clear cups allowing ushers and other theater personnel to determine who is drinking what.
While the new enhanced food and beverage menu affords lots of new options, long time movie goers can rest assured that the standard fare of popcorn, candy, soft drinks and more will still be readily available from the concession stand as always.
Get ready for an entirely new experience from Celebration! Cinema of Benton Harbor at 1468 Cinema Way in Benton Harbor…Where Story Happens.
