Called "The District," the stand alone, open-air expansionincludes 90,000 sf that will be occupied by Krikorian PremiereTheatres. The new theater facility will have 18 wall-to-wall,state-of-the-art screens and stadium-style seating. The remaining60,000-sf will be leased out to themed restaurants, specialtyretailers and other entertainment-related attractions.

"We know how hard [Festival has] been working to bring a firstclass theater and entertainment complex to the Buena Park Mall,"says city manager Greg Beaubien. "This is something the communityhas wanted and we expect support for the project to betremendous."

Built in 1961 adjacent to Knott's Berry Farm, the mall is OrangeCounty's oldest regional shopping center. A $45-million mallredevelopment project, which added four power tenants--Old Navy,Bed, Bath & Beyond, Burlington Coat Factory and Ross Dress forLess--was just completed a month ago.