IMAX complex

IMAX complex to have 3-level parking for 800 cars

* New cost to be Rs 800m, twice the original estimate

By Anjum Herald Gill

LAHORE: The IMAX Theatre Complex at St Mary’s Park, MM Alam Road will include a three-level underground parking facility for 800 cars, Taimur Azmat, culture secretary told Daily Times on Thursday.

“The four-storey IMAX Complex will cost Rs 800 million. Half of the total cost of this facility is being consumed in the construction of the parking lot,” he said. “Lack of parking spaces on MM Alam Road is causing traffic jams. The parking facility will help clear up these jams,” he said.

“IMAX cinema is being built to offer family entertainment. There is no decent place in Lahore where one can take his family for entertainment, “ said Azmat.

This complex is the city’s first IMAX theatre. It was originally proposed as part of an Infotainment Park that would be built on 92 kanals in front of the Gaddafi Stadium. The project would have housed two theatres, restaurants, shopping malls, a skating arena and science centre, and would have cost Rs 400 million.

The site was changed from Gaddafi Stadium to St Mary’s Ground (also known as Doongi Ground), MM Alam Road last year. The 40-kanal land will house the cinema, a bowling alley, shopping centre and a food court. It’s revised cost estimate had come to around Rs 450 million.

“It was a rough estimate. We did not work it out in black and white. We estimated the cost in-house. After a consultancy study, market study, consumer study, financial feasibility report, it was clear that we had underestimated. Chances are that prices will escalate during construction,” said Azmat.

“Because we are building parking inside the building, the land around will be left free to be decorated and landscaped, said the culture secretary.

Public Awareness Services Society (PASS), an NGO whose membership includes bureaucrats Salman Khalid, Nisar Cheema and Hadi Iqbal, has challenged the construction of the complex in court.

PASS says that the project is unjustifiable in the light of the diminishing numbers of cinemagoers in the city. It says that the complex is being built in a playground that caters to the sports needs of locals and students from adjacent schools. The NGO has challenged the legality of the Punjab Entertainment Company, which was established by the government for the IMAX Complex.