New Theater Has Starring Role in Downtown Revival : Development: The 16-screen complex, expected to draw : 1 million patrons annually, is the centerpiece of a $40-million project on Pine Avenue.

For the first time in more than a dozen years, a first-run movie will be showing Friday on a big screen in downtown Long Beach.

Thirteen movies, to be precise, will be shown on 16 screens at the grand opening of the AMC Pine Square 16, the centerpiece of a Pine Avenue development that has been heralded as the salvation of downtown.

The huge theater, which is expected to attract more than 1 million patrons in its first year, eventually will be surrounded by a trendy coffee shop, ice cream parlor and bookstore.

Tonight, downtown merchants, city officials and guests will celebrate the event at a party featuring laser-light sculptures, gourmet edibles and champagne.

“In my dreams, I’ve been looking forward to this,” said John Morris, owner of Mum’s restaurant on Pine Avenue and president of the Downtown Long Beach Business Assn.

“The additional traffic is going to be fantastic for this street--for all the storefronts here.”

The last time big-screen movies were shown in this neighborhood, pornography was the main event. Now, the officials are hoping their complex will be a destination for moviegoers in a 25-mile radius.

“This is probably the most state-of-the-art complex around,” said Greg Rutkowski, who helps oversee more than 100 movie houses as vice president of AMC operations. AMC also runs the theater at Marina Pacifica Mall in Long Beach and another in Montebello.

“Hopefully, when people see this, it will become their theater of choice,” he said.

To support 16 screens and 3,600 seats, the theater chain plans to sell 25,000 tickets a week. To attract that many ticket buyers, the building has more than the usual number of amenities.

At the cinema, patrons can choose between cappuccino and Coke, frozen yogurt and hot dogs. A cluster of cafe tables is tucked into a bay window--where other theaters might offer a vinyl settee and metal ashtray.

And be forewarned: Even the bathrooms are automated. As a water-conservation measure, the toilets flush automatically and faucets are turned off and on by a sensor that determines whether hands are under the spigot.

AMC officials are not relying on fancy plumbing to bring in an audience, however. Theater officials have bought full-page newspaper ads, sent mailers to 300,000 households and handed out 30,000 free soft-drink coupons--one to every worker in the downtown area, said Tony Adamson, AMC director of marketing and advertising.

Since no competing theaters are nearby, the complex will have its pick of newly released movies. “We won’t be restricted on what we can show. It’s a great location,” Adamson said.

Tuesday, dozens of workers were still installing fixtures, building concession areas and setting up computerized projectors. The gray upholstered seats with trademark molded cup holders were in place. But ladders, carpet scraps and boxes of condiments littered the floor. AMC Regional Director James R. Erdman wasn’t worried.

“I’ve seen worse,” he said. “We’ll be ready.”

A number of storefronts, boutiques and apartments around the theaters--pieces of the $40-million Janss development on Pine Avenue, between 3rd Street and Broadway--are near completion but unoccupied. To prepare for the theater’s grand opening, painted plywood was being placed over construction areas with signs such as: “Pacific Court, Distinctive Cosmopolitan Apartments, Opening January, 1993.”

The complex, put together by the same developers who gave Santa Monicans the Third Street Promenade theaters, is about 80% leased, William Janss, president of Janss Corp., said.

City officials have been looking forward to this opening since the project was approved in August, 1990. Not only will the city collect a projected $171,000 a year in business license fees and taxes, but the new cinema is expected to brighten downtown’s tarnished image.

“I’m very happy about this,” Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell said. “We’re looking forward to the additional tax revenues.

“This is just one more component to make downtown a viable business area.”

In five years, eight buildings have been erected downtown, including the World Trade Center, the Landmark Square office building and a new federal office building.

The downtown area has suffered from a reputation of being dangerous and deserted after dark and on weekends, but boosters point out that police patrol the area on bicycles and on foot to increase security, and the Downtown Development Assn. has hired uniformed guides to greet passersby and give them directions.

With an influx of 25,000 moviegoers a week, the perception of downtown as a dangerous area will soon diminish--or vanish altogether, officials hope.

Theater managers have provided security for nearby parking areas, and the movie house will always have two off-duty police officers in the area: one near the concession stand and another in the street-level ticket window.

“And, of course, we will admit all policemen free of charge, every day, all year,” Rutkowski said.

The theaters will open about 1 p.m. Friday.