In Saratoga Springs and Schenectady, downtown movie theaters were built without acrimony.

But Troy is not Saratoga Springs or Schenectady. My favorite little city is a cantankerous place where the blueness of the sky could be endlessly debated. Troy remains, yes, a bit crazy.

So nobody should be surprised that a plan for 11 downtown movie screens is controversial and stalled by a lawsuit. Or that the project's loudest opponents are acting as if developers want to plop a slaughterhouse or nuclear power plant into the city's lovely downtown.

"Troy is such a weird place," said Vic Christopher, well-known owner of downtown restaurants. "This is the only city where such a happy project could be met with such hostility."

Christopher is so frustrated by opposition to the plan that he resigned from the board of the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District on Thursday. Leadership there, he says, has quashed support for the $24 million project at the old City Hall site.

Worse, Christopher senses a nasty class-ism in the effort to block movie screens. The revival of downtown Troy has created a comfy bubble for some affluent property owners, he says, and they're trying to close the door.

"I don't think they want to bring in people from South and North Troy," Christopher said. "Why else do you oppose this?"

The theater and attached parking garage would be built by Bonacio Construction and Bow Tie Cinemas at One Monument Square, which has been a hole since former Mayor Harry Tutunjian had City Hall demolished six years ago. Plans have come and gone since, some better than others.

The movie complex is one of the better plans, but not without flaws — a less-than-inspiring exterior design among them.

"Why would you put up such a cynical building in the heart of such a beautiful downtown?" asked Duncan Crary, a downtown booster and raconteur. "Especially when the architecture and urban fabric are the main draw?"

I've had some fun mocking the project's architecture. I may have even called it ugly. No doubt, officials should keep pushing Bonacio and Bow Tie to improve the design.

But we might be letting the desire for perfection get in the way of the overall good — including jobs the project would create, foot traffic it would bring and the tax revenue it would provide for a perpetually strapped city.

Some opponents say the theaters will bring in too many people and too much traffic. Others claim the theaters will fail.

Well, which is it? Too many people or too few?

Christopher thinks some opponents are too satisfied and don't realize how desperately Troy needs economic development.

"They think Troy is rejuvenated," Christopher said. "But we're waving the victory flag too quickly. We're nowhere near where we need to be as a city."

Christopher is hardly an impartial observer, as he admits. He was part of the Tutunjian administration and his restaurants would presumably benefit from crowds that would stream to the theaters.

But so what? Isn't it good when businesses thrive?

I tried to talk to Jody Brooks, a Niskayuna resident who is developing a boutique hotel on River Street. She is also president of the BID and an opponent of the theater project. She declined to comment. (The BID has not taken an official stance on the project.)

But I read a position paper Brooks submitted to BID members outlining her opposition, along with a petition being circulated to stop the project and summaries of the lawsuit, filed by a rival developer, that actually has halted its progress through the city's planning process.

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Ludicrously, the frivolous suit claims the movie theaters "would do irreparable harm to downtown Troy." Please.

At the risk of oversimplification, I'll summarize the opposition's arguments thusly: Parking. Architecture. Parking. Parking. Parking. Parking. Parking. And, oh yeah, the river.

The theaters would be built overlooking the Hudson, which means the building would largely block sight of the water from Monument Square.

To listen to some opponents wax on about the view, you would think crowds gathered on the sidewalk to gaze upon the river and the picturesque car wash on the opposing shore. You would think Green Island is the Grand Canyon.

The parking argument is just as silly. The theaters are expected to draw about 10,000 people a week, which happens to be how many people the Troy Farmers Market gets on an average Saturday morning.

Yet somehow, I never find it especially hard to park. And everybody manages to have a great time.

It's as if people have forgotten that downtowns are supposed to be crowded. Or they've forgotten how to walk a few blocks.

For ample parking, there's Wal-Mart. For a lively, thriving downtown with a mix of people and things to do, give the movie theater a chance.