Trolley Square construction starts with Reel Theatres in Caldwell

The Gardner Company plans to build an 11-screen theater on a vacant lot in downtown Caldwell as part of a development called Trolley Square.

Downtown Caldwell has not had a movie theater since the historic Top Theater closed in the 1980s. The Terrace Drive-In has been the only movie option in Caldwell since the Linden 3 Theatres closed in 2006.

“For more than 30 years, downtown has been in a state of disinvestment,” Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas said Aug. 25 as Gardner COO Tommy Ahlquist applied for a building permit to start construction on an 11-screen The Reel Theatre.

“We’re prepared for a complete revitalization of downtown,” Nancolas said.

A block over from the Trolley Square site, construction is underway on Indian Creek Plaza, set to open in April with outdoor ice skating in winter and a plaza, splash pad, concert and event venue in summer. Across the street from Trolley Square is a portion of Indian Creek Park, part of the revealing of a waterway that had been covered for decades.

Gardner started mobilizing and moving earth on the Trolley Square site the week of Aug. 28 with a building permit expected within 10 days, the mayor said.

Trey Hoff Architecture of Boise is the architect. Scott Hedrick Construction of Boise is the general contractor.

The Trolley Square block abuts the incline of 10^th Avenue as it crosses the railroad tracks. It is bounded by Ninth Avenue and Main and Arthur streets. The city, through the Caldwell Urban Renewal Agency,  purchased the property for $1.2 million, demolished an existing building and gave the property at no cost to Gardner on the condition that Trolley Square be constructed.

“We’re not spending money downtown. We’re investing in the future,” Nancolas said.

The Reel Theatre will have 850 to 900 seats with most of them luxury recliners, said Eric Denning, operations manager at Boise-based Casper Management, which owns and operates the 37-screen, five- theater chain with a mix of first-run and second-run theaters.

“This will be the first theater in Idaho with so many reclining seats,” Denning said.

Development of Trolley Square has been in the works for three years, but construction was delayed about a year as Gardner struggled to finance the $6 million The Reel Theatre. Financing from Citizens Bank recently came through.

Ahlquist told the Idaho Business Review he intends to have two additional Trolley Square buildings completed at the same time as the announced May opening of the theaters. This pair of restaurant/retail buildings will have a combined 13,000 square feet, said David Wali, executive vice president at Gardner.

Immediately following the building permit application and impromptu press conference, Ahlquist, Denning and their teams walked to the Trolley Square site and, on the fly, started conjuring up potential shapes and placement  of the two retail buildings on the Arthur side of the property.

“I think you need to have an entrance here,” Ahlquist said at the corner of Arthur and Ninth.

Gardner has already left its signature in Boise with the Eighth and Main Tower and Clearwater Building; in Meridian with The Portico at Meridian; in Nampa with Nampa Library Square; and in Eagle with Eagle Island Crossing. Gardner previously built the 92,000-square-foot West Valley Medical Complex next to the West Valley Medical Center.

The timing for the construction start and estimated May completion of the entire Trolley Square falls squarely in prime blockbuster movie season.

“That’s when the big movies come out,” Denning said. “We need to be open. We’ve got two prime windows. Thanksgiving or right before summer. If we don’t open during those windows, we start upside- down from the start. This is the best jumpstart we can do.”