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Company Seeks Liquor License For Hyde Park Theater

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 20, 2009

TAMPA - A high-end movie theater coming to Hyde Park wants to offer cocktails and appetizers with movies, a proposal that will require it to get a liquor permit.

Alabama-based Cobb Theatres plans to begin construction this month of a CineBistro theater with six screens, reserved seating and dining tables. Cocktails and appetizers will be served in the lobby bar, and patrons can order a meal before the movie.

The theater will be built on the site of the former Sunrise Cinema.

Before Cobb can do that, it will need permission from the city council to serve liquor. The council is expected to vote on the request for "wet zoning" at its Thursday meeting.

The owners of Hyde Park Village, where the theater will be built, said the theater will be for customers 21 or older, and each movie screen will have about 85 seats.

A similar proposal in Pasco County drew criticism from a Wesley Chapel evangelical church that raised concerns about alcohol being served at the 16-screen theater at The Grove at Wesley Chapel shopping plaza, just off Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Members of Faith Baptist Church argued that Cobb's request would violate a county rule that prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages within 1,000 feet of a church or school.

The church is located about 827 feet away from the theaters.

In the end, Pasco County's Board of Commissioners granted Cobb an exemption.

The 2,700-seat theater opened in September.

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