RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA : Town Center Theater to Open Next Winter

One more part of the Town Center has fallen into place, as Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc. announced that it will build a six-screen movie complex in the community shopping center.

Santa Margarita Co. officials said the movie house would be a drawing card in the future Central Plaza, where the project’s many elements--a shopping center, walking trails, old-time “main street”--will converge.

“With its unique placement and combination of services and amenities, Central Plaza will become a place for community festivals, concerts and other gatherings,” said company marketing Vice President Donald Moe. “The addition of Edwards Cinemas will help make Central Plaza . . . a destination and a real downtown for southeast Orange County.”

Construction of the theaters will start this spring with completion scheduled for winter, 1995, said company officials.

Also built, planned or under construction in Town Center are: a library, a school and businesses such as a restaurant, a Target department store, a Family Fitness Center and 316-unit apartment complex.

“Now is the perfect time to expand into this market, given the flurry of retail activity under way in the Town Center,” said W. James Edward III, president of Edwards Theatres. “We believe that a six-screen theater will be ideal for the intimate, yet vibrant downtown environment unfolding in Town Center.”