Theater to be featured in development

The mission of theater owner Lisa Clausen is to make the Sisters Movie House the cultural center of the community. To be completed by spring 2005, the planned theater, according to Clausen, "will feature quality food, quality experience, and quality environment."

Located toward the eastern edge of the proposed new FivePine development (see story, page 1), the theater will include four screens and a maximum occupancy of 300. Two screens, each seating 100 viewers, will play first-run feature movies. Another will show independent and art films. The last will offer documentary films. Clausen envisions thematic second-run movies being run during community events, for example, classic western movies during Sisters Rodeo week.

Clausen would like to offer local creations, such as films created by Sisters High School students.

While films are the primary medium of attention, Clausen is not ruling out live performances, especially in an adjacent outdoor courtyard.

Expanded food and beverage will feature traditional theater fare (popcorn and soda) plus light meals, salads, beer, wine and espresso in a relaxed, sit-down atmosphere. In addition to parking along the frontage street of the development, a large off-street parking lot with 89 spaces will be located adjacent to the theater.

In keeping with the architectural theme of the FivePine development, the building design is inspired by the late 1800 barns of the region.

"The Flicks," a similar theater in Boise, Idaho is Clausen's inspiration for the Sisters Movie House.

Other developments in FivePine include a commitment by development partner Chip Dickenson, who is looking for a tenant for a restaurant next door to Sisters Athletic Club. A covered walkway will provide shelter to access the restaurant directly from the athletic club.

According to Dickenson, "The restaurant will cater to the wellness industry and will provide living-wage jobs. We are trying to conceptualize projects and buildings that will be here for decades to come. The overriding force behind FivePine is the pursuit of quality and excellence with a sensitivity to wellness and the environment."

Zoe Willits will be the proprietor of Shibui, a health spa described as "a place to relax and unwind."

"I moved here nine years ago with a vision of a place where people would come not just to look but come and have an opportunity to stay, have access to good food and walk the pathways and waterways through," Willitts said. "With limited need for an automobile, people can walk from place to place."

Shibui, which currently has a facility on the site, will offer massages, facials, pedicures and manicures in a barn-like exterior with Japanese architecture inside and will include an inside water feature.

Brian Witt represents a group of Sisters businessmen who are looking at FivePine Station, a classic train station design of the 1800s. Looking for professional office space, Witt said, "There are very few existing good quality Sisters office spaces that are energy efficient and located in any form of a natural setting."

Other developments will include The Lodge with eight overnight rooms, a fly fishing museum and an inbound travel office. The Lodge and a conference center will be complemented by two dozen 900-square-foot cabins designed to sleep two to four people.

The Sports Barn is intended to house two tennis courts.

Plans call for completion of Sisters Movie House, Shibui, the Dickenson restaurant, and FivePine Station by 2005 and the FivePine Lodge & Conference Center by 2007.