Owners of Skyline 5D Cinemas Frand Pineda opened his Green Tree Mall site n Aug. 23, 2017 in Clarksville. Staff photo by Josh Hicks
Owners of Skyline 5D Cinemas Frand Pineda opened his Green Tree Mall site n Aug. 23, 2017 in Clarksville. Staff photo by Josh Hicks
• •
CLARKSVILLE — Skyline 5D Cinemas is only a small storefront in Clarksville’s Green Tree Mall, but its part of a big trend in shopping centers: entertainment-based businesses.

Visitors to the small theater sit in black and red seats that dip, vibrate and shoot cool air from their armrests. They can choose from over 100 six- to 12-minute 3-D movies that place them in various situations: from roller coaster rides to an interactive history lesson about the earth.

“There is nothing around like this here,” said Frank Pineda, the owner of the theater. “It’s a new experience.”

As some malls in the United States struggle with a rise in brick-and-mortar retailers closing shops, others are trending more toward events, art centers and spas and fitness clubs, according to a blog post by McKinsey & Company, a marketing and sales firm.

Green Tree, which is losing its Sears anchor tenant, recently opened a Thai ice cream restaurant that lures customers in with its fun-to-watch creation process. The mall also offers exercise classes and other events.

Chris Cullen, Green Tree Mall's manager, said that Pineda’s nine-seat theater, which opened in August, brings an “entertainment factor” to the mall.

“We’re always looking for new and different uses,” she said, although Green Tree is still very much dominated by retail.

While experiential tenants are just now taking over malls, Pineda's been running them for years. In 2010, he ran Splash Water Ball at Green Tree, which placed paying customers in clear balls floating in a pool of water that they could run around in.

In 2007, he opened his first "5-D" theater in Orlando. (Pineda has lived in both Kentucky and Florida).

Soon, he plans to open a virtual reality kiosk in Mall St. Matthews and Jefferson Mall in Louisville.

For now, though, he’s satisfied listening to the shouts and laughter emanating from his theater. Rides are $7 per person (although Pineda’s known to give out free ones, and there are discounts for large groups).

The cinema also includes a fog machine, light effects, bubbles, water capabilities and a small tickler that swipes at people’s calves when a creepy-crawly appears on screen.

He gets new movies every month and plans to coordinate them with the season. There are several horror-based films in stock as Halloween nears.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.