4900 new seats

Cinema Baslers want a large movie theater after all. Only two weeks ago, the Basel electorate clearly rejected a multiplex project (WW 41/03). Now it has been announced that five new projects are planned. A planning application has even been published in the Basel cantonal gazette - from the same consortium that was defeated in the referendum. Specifically, Enrico Ceppi from Basel wants to build nine auditoriums with 2,400 seats in the city center on the site of his Küchlin cinema. The new complex would also include two neighboring properties that Ceppi already owns. If everything goes according to plan, this multiplex will be completed in two years. But Ceppi and his partners are not stopping there. According to a report in the Basler Zeitung, they are also planning a multiplex with eleven screens and 2,500 seats on the so-called Dreispitz site on the border with Münchenstein BL. However, no planning application has yet been submitted for this. The astonished Basel public was recently informed by cantonal architect Fritz Schumacher that three further projects are planned. However, he is unwilling to name the developers, the number of seats or the locations. (mk)