New theater still needs some work

Last May, I wrote about how much I liked the vivid colors applied to the retail buildings that surround the new Galaxy Theatres in Colony Square. It was my opinion that those colors, and the ones used across Highway 41 in the new Starbucks project, actually enhanced the beautification effort under way downtown.

Many people I talk to like the new colors but don’t have good feelings about the theater complex itself. They say it is too big, rather garish and not in keeping with what is going on downtown.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on what’s wrong with the new movie house. It does stand out instead of blend in. Maybe that was the plan.

Painting colors on all the other buildings surrounding it but keeping the theater building just plain white does draw attention to it. Maybe too much so.

Last week, I got the new directory from the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce. The Galaxy adorns the cover and is shown again on Page 7 of the chamber’s combination business directory and visitor guide.

In those pictures, the structure appears not white, but more in earth tones. And I think that is just what the building needs: to be painted other than white to tone it down and make it blend in with the rest of the first phase of Colony Square.

The round towers on the theater replicate the city’s original civic center building now undergoing renovation just across the creek. Painting the Galaxy building in earth tones would bring it more into conformance with those buildings physically attached to it and in the “neighborhood.”

Also related to the movie theater, I’ve had dozens of folks ask me to write about the need for a venue at the Galaxy for those films being shown at the Palm in San Luis Obispo. There are plenty of screens at the Galaxy, and to have one or two of them devoted to those less-than-mainstream movies would be a nice addition to things to do without leaving Atascadero.

Atascadero moviegoers deserve to have those films shown right here in their hometown. Unlike those popular Hollywood films with explosions and blood and monsters, the art films are generally good for the mind and, in many cases, the soul.

Years ago, special travel films were shown Wednesdays at the local movie house. Those films were well attended by many senior citizens who made an outing of the day by going to lunch and then the movie.

Reach Lon Allan at 466-8529 or leallan@tcsn.net.