By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — Plans for a 10-screen movie complex at the site of the former Sears store have hit a snag, Wausau Mayor Rob Mielke said Tuesday.
The plan, approved in January by the city council by an 8-3 margin, called for the city to transfer the property to Micon Cinemas and included a $1 million forgivable loan. The deal was contingent on Micon adding jobs and building a complex worth $6 million.
“Up until a couple of weeks ago, everything was still a go,” Mielke said. “Then things started to fall apart.”
At the crux of the issue is a design plan that called for the theater to be completely separate from the Wausau Center mall after the former Sears anchor store’s demolition. Rialto, the Miami-based firm that owns the mall, wanted the theater to be connected to the existing structure.
The Sears property, which the city acquired for $650,000 earlier this year, has been vacant since Sears shuttered the store more than a year ago. In September 2016, city officials issued a request for proposals (RFP) to develop the space (see below).
Micon was one of two applicants expressing interest in the site. It is not clear if mall management weighed in on the discussion early on, but the RFP calls the mall a “willing partner in the active repositioning of the site.”
The theater expected to break ground months ago, with a projected opening date of April 2018, according to city documents. The city has not transferred any property to Micon as of this date, officials confirmed Tuesday.
The decision to choose Micon over the other RFP applicant, HOM Furniture, was not without debate. During the January city council meeting, Alderman Romey Wagner said he preferred HOM Furniture in part because they would not have required a loan.
“I’m not saying I don’t want the movie theater, I’m just saying we had two projects come to us,” Wagner said at the meeting. “One would decrease taxes and show a commitment to our taxpayers.”
Wagner, along with Dennis Smith and Becky McElhaney, voted against the theater project.
Mielke said he hopes the theater will still come to fruition, but it won’t be the end of the world if Micon and Rialto can’t come to an agreement. The two sides are meeting Oct. 5 to hash out their differences. If the theater does fall through, the city will issue a new RFP for the property.
