If city approvals come as expected, construction crews could be at work by the end of February on the 39,238-sf American Family Entertainment Center and it could open this summer, says Bill Chess, the broker who acted as the development's midwife.

The center is to include four stadium-seat theaters, 16-lane bowling alley, billiard hall with 10 tables, game arcade and community room. If the center meets expectations, plans call for an to expansion 49,000 sf and two more movies screens and eight more lanes. Chess, who operates Bill Chess Real Estate in Bastrop, says there are three pad sites remaining on the property, which probably will go for restaurants.

As the name indicates, the center will strive for a family atmosphere. Smoking and alcohol will be prohibited.

The nearest multiplex theaters are about 45 minutes away in Austin as the closest bowling alley. Chess expects the center to attract customers from Bastrop County and the surrounding counties. He says residents of Travis County communities have told him they'd rather go to Bastrop for a movie than into Austin.

The center will be built on 7 1/2 acres at US Highway 95 and Loop 150, near the entrance to Bastrop State Park. Most of Bastrop's recent development has been on its west side along busy US Highway 71, where Wal-Mart and H-E-B stores are located and a Home Depot has begun construction. Around the entertainment center are a convenience store and a small strip center.

"The east side of town has been pretty much ignored," Chess says. "There's been a lot of interest on the part of city government to improve that approach to Bastrop. This will start it."

Other prospective theater developers had looked at the west side, Chess says. What sold the east side site was the willingness of landowner Tom Dykes of Austin to do a different kind of deal. "In this case, the landowner was willing to put his land into it in return for a percentage," Chess says.

The developer of the American Family Entertainment Center is Bill Kellen, a Wyoming rancher and businessman. He's developing a smaller version of the center in Pinedale, WY. Best Construction Services of Salado, TX is building the center and the architect is Great Basin Engineering of Salt Lake City, UT.

While most real estate deals and economic development depend on longtime relationships, this one shows that there's still an element of chance involved. Chess, for several years, has been a proponent of putting a movie theater in Bastrop. When Kellen's former ranch foreman, who had moved to Bastrop, called the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce wondering where the town's theater was, officials directed him to Chess. From there, Chess brought the players together.

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Developer Plans Family Entertainment Center

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