(KNZA)-- The Hiawatha City Commission will hold a special meeting Monday evening to consider approval of a resolution placing a half-cent sales tax proposal on the April 1st general election ballot for the construction of a new  movie theater.

The commission will also consider approval of a charter ordinance for the creation of a public building commission to issue bonds to finance the project.  The bonds would be paid off with revenue generated from the sales tax.

The project was discussed during a work session held after the commission’s regular meeting Tuesday evening.  On hand for the discussion were representatives of Acme Cinema, a theater consulting group from Parsons, along with Creal, Clark and Seifert, an architectural firm from St. Joseph.

Being proposed is a state of the art about 7,800-square-foot three screen movie theater with digital capabilities at a total estimated cost of nearly $1.7 million. 

Clint Holthaus, owner of the Arrow Theater in downtown Hiawatha, says he will be closing in the near future because he can’t afford the cost to convert to a digital projection system estimated at around $80,000 per screen.

Pat Hailey with Acme Cinema, which conducted a feasibility study on the new theater project, said building a modern triplex is the city’s best option.  Hailey said three screens are considered a minimum necessary to allow movies to be rotated. 

Hailey estimated the new theater would generate admissions of around 32,000 a year on the conservative side and about a 82-hundred dollar profit in the first year of operation.  

The Hiawatha Foundation for Economic Development has agreed to donate property in the Longfellow addition for construction of the new theater on either lots located between the DeVita Dialysis Center and Steve’s Lube and Repair or east of the new hotel.

A website has been created to provide Hiawatha residents with information on the project.  It can be accessed here.