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Like the Hollywood studios whose works he displays, independent theater owner Albert Saluan hopes his new $4 million, 12-screen theater in Mentor will be a summer blockbuster.
"Right now, Lake County has two major theaters that can't handle the crowds," said Mr. Saluan, president of Atlas Cinemas Inc. He expects his Atlas Cinemas/Diamond Center will handle the overflow and draw a crowd of its own. The theater's opening night is set for this Thursday, July 24.
The Diamond Center is the largest gem in Mr. Saluan's theater chain, which includes the five-screen Colony Theatre in Shaker Square, the Lakeshore Cinema 7 in Euclid, the Avon Lake 4 in Avon Lake, and the three-screen Mapletown in Maple Heights. After the Mentor theater opens, the other four cinemas will come under the Atlas Cinemas banner.
Combined sales for Atlas Cinemas' theaters totaled $3 million in fiscal 1996, which ended Nov. 30, Mr. Saluan said. He said his independent operation has prospered alongside large national theater chains...