Penn Cinema Riverfront could begin selling beer, wine this month

Wilmington movie goers may be able to toast the big screen return of "Poltergeist" with a drink in hand.

Penn Cinema Riverfront will be the next Delaware movie theater to sell beer and wine -- a debut that could coincide with the May 22 release date for the remake of the 1982 horror classic.

"That's our target date," said Penn Ketchum, managing partner of the privately owned theater, which received conditional approval for a new liquor license last week. "Right now, we're training our staff and finalizing our plan for how we're going to serve these beverages, so nothing is definite at this point."

Exactly what brands will be offered and at what prices are still being finalized, Ketchum said.

"We want to take our time and be sure we're fully prepared so we can put our best foot forward when we begin offering these new menu items," he said.

Penn Cinema Riverfront, which offers the state's only IMAX, is the second Delaware movie theater licensed to sell beer and wine under a state law passed in 2014.

Westown Movies in Middletown began offering beer and wine to its patrons with the premier of "50 Shades of Grey" on Feb. 13.

Westown converted its former arcade area into a standalone bar where the theater now offers a selection of five wines, six draft beers and 14 canned items. Wines sell for $7, drafts vary from two for $3.50 to one for $6, while canned drinks are about $4.

"We now feel like we can give our customers the full night-out experience," said Rick Roman, president of the company that manages Westown Movies.

"We haven't had a single disturbance result from our sale of beer and wine," he said. "It's really just another concession item that's available to our customers and has not had any effect on our family-friendly environment."

Stand-alone movie theaters in Delaware were excluded from holding a liquor license until last summer when the General Assembly approved a bill to create a new license specific to those establishments.

The legislation was introduced by Rep. Quinn Johnson, D-Middletown, at Westown's request.

To be eligible for the $1,500, two-year license, theaters must have at least 500 seats, be open at least five days a week and show a minimum 250 movies a year.

Alcoholic beverages must be sold in a bar area separate from other concessions while movie goers are capped at two drinks. Theaters also are required to issue wristbands, use easily-identifiable containers and monitor in-theater consumption.

At Westown Moves, that monitoring involves the use of in-theater cameras, a model that also will be adopted at Penn Cinema Riverfront. The installation of those cameras is one of the final requirements the theater must meet before a final license is issued.

At least 30 other states allow alcohol sales at movie theaters, including Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

Delaware approved a similar change in the state liquor licensing law in 2012 to accommodate concert halls, such as World Café Live at the Queen in Wilmington.

Theatre N at Nemours in Wilmington has been allowed to serve alcohol during screenings for the past eight years. That's because it's operated by CityFest, an arts organization staffed by the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs eligible to hold a special liquor license reserved for nonprofits.

"We're not trying to do anything wild or crazy," Ketchum said. "We just see this as another option on our menu, and it won't change tone of our theater, which will still be very much family oriented."

Ketchum compared beer and wine sales at movie theaters to the adult beverages sold at sporting events.

"Right now, my family can go to a minor league baseball game and my son gets a Coke and maybe my wife gets a beer," he said. "The new law just brings movie theaters in line with other spectator situations."

Ketchum said Penn Cinema Riverfront still wants to take it's time introducing beer and wine sales to ensure it is meeting the letter of the law.

"We have a lot of respect for the forward-thinking way the state is handling this, so we want to make sure we're not doing anything outside of what was intended by the Legislature," he said. "We're also very responsive to our customers, so we're excited to see how this goes over with them."

Contact Scott Goss at (302) 324-2282, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.