Updating the Downtown Eclipse Movie Theater Restaurant and Tavern

The under construction, eight screen Eclipse Theaters "dinner-and-a-movie experience" at Third Street and Gass Avenue may yet prove one of the unlikeliest downtown success stories and a true lesson in perseverance.

First announced in January 2014, and initially fraught with financial difficulties, the three-story, 72,000-square foot project is rapidly being built and is still confirmed to feature a restaurant and adjacent "tavern."

New design plans explain that guests will enter the lobby on the the southwest corner of the intersection. Escalators take ticket buyers upstairs, where the eight theaters are located, ranging in size from 84 seats to 49 for screens 6, 7 and 8.

The bar and restaurant area sits separate from the theater corridor and also leads guests to an open lounge area with a corner balcony patio looking further downtown toward Fremont Street.

Current paperwork adds four two-top tables in the bar and 10 seats right at the bar itself. An "extensive wine list" has already been promised. For the decor, customers are advised to "imagine dim lighting, accentuated with comfortable seating sectioned to create romantic enclaves in some areas."

A few steps from the bar and sitting parallel to Third Street, the restaurant runs approximately a third of the length of the theater building with a projected 76 seats. Eclipse is promoting a "chef-driven menu" and the option for guests to order food and cocktails at their movie seats.

Eclipse Theaters January construction - Photo: Eclipse Theaters

On the third floor, sits the "future VIP lounge," filling as much space as the downstairs bar, lounge and restaurant.

The Eclipse team is confident of an "early August" debut date.