Sentinel staff report–
The discount theater at Sunrise Mall, which initially closed temporarily last year during the pandemic, will not be reopening.
A listing on the mall’s website now lists the United Artist’s theater as “permanently closed,” and Sunrise MarketPlace Executive Director Kathilynn Carpenter confirmed the permanent closure in an email to The Sentinel on Saturday.
The closure means Citrus Heights is now officially without a movie theater, with the nearest option being Century 16, located just outside the city limits at Greenback Lane and Interstate 80. Prior plans for a new theater on Auburn Boulevard fizzled last year after Studio Movie Grill backed out amid a bankruptcy filing.
Plans for at least one new theater on the mall site are included in the city’s Specific Plan to guide redevelopment at Sunrise Mall, but staff have estimated it could take 20 years for the plan to be fully implemented. Plans are also contingent on private developer(s) being willing to fund the project.
The city is expected to finalize its Specific Plan later this year. For more, see prior story: Plan to transform Sunrise Mall ‘well ahead’ of schedule. Here’s what’s next
