Camera 7 Cinemas at the Pruneyard Shopping Center will close in April so management can get to work on construction that will change the theater-going experience.

The seven-screen movie theater at 1875 S. Bascom Ave. will be remodeled to include a restaurant and full bar and will be renamed Pruneyard Cinemas. Owner Jack Nyblom and his partner Ed Rathmann said they hope to begin construction in April with a reopening in September.

“We’re designing it right now,” Rathmann told this newspaper. “It won’t look anything like it does now because we’re taking over the Pizza My Heart space.”

The pizza joint is located inside the lobby of the theater. The space will be transformed to accommodate a kitchen, and the former Boswell’s bar next door will be remodeled into a full bar, according to Nyblom and Rathmann.

Planned improvements in the theater include installing 500 reclining seats; constructing a 60-seat restaurant; expanding the lobby and concession area and making room for new offices, storage and an employee room. Patio seating is planned.

All seven theater screens will remain.

“It will be a completely different experience,” Rathmann said. “I think what’s happening is that every theater in the country wants to do this or is doing this because the old style of ‘come watch a movie’ isn’t working as well.”

According to Nyblom, the new restaurant and bar will be open to the public and will not require a movie ticket. Movie-goers will also have the option to purchase tickets online, reserve their seats ahead of time and have food delivered to their seats.

Nyblom said names for the restaurant and bar have not been finalized yet.

The theater will also see its ownership structure change. According to a business plan, Pruneyard Cinemas, LLC will purchase Camera 7 Cinemas limited partnership, which has four years left on the current lease. The theater will enter a 30-year lease with shopping center owner Ellis Partners, who will provide at least $1 million to tenant improvements and equipment.

Nyblom and Rathmann will stay on as principals of Pruneyard Cinemas.

“The new owners of the Pruneyard are doing a massive remodel,” Rathmann said. “They want us to be the focal point on it. So they are investing a lot of money into the theater to make it happen.”

Nyblom is the founder and managing partner of Camera Cinemas. Rathmann is the managing partner of Willow Street Wood Fired Pizza and Main Street Burger.

Ellis Partners received approval from the city late last year to do a four-phase project that will bring five new retail buildings, 100,000 square feet of office space and 680 new parking spaces. Renovations to existing commercial buildings and new landscaping are planned. The first phase kicked off in January, and will see the reconfiguration of pedestrian crossings and construction for public gathering areas.