by: Krista Klaus

B&B Theatres debuted its new seven-screen boutique theater in New Longview with an Opening Gala Wednesday, the chain’s first metro-area ground-up project in six years.

Check out a time-lapse of B&B’s New Longview 7 Theatre nine-month construction project

New Longview 7’s Grand Screen is the first theater in the world to feature a dive lighting system with individual lights corresponding with each speaker, offering moviegoers an immersive, “rock-the-seats experience,” according to Brock Bagby, B&B Theatres executive vice president.

“Those lights can be changed and can do whatever we want them to. We can have every single one a different color, so let’s say we are watching Finding Dory, then we can change the entire room to look like an ocean. This is the very first theater in the world to have this, right here in Lee’s Summit, Missouri,” Bagby said.

The Grand Screen is six stories wide and four stories tall, making it one of the largest screens in the nation coupled with DTS immersive surround sound.

“You’ve got the biggest industry subs behind the screen, so it’s gonna shake your chairs. It’s an amazing experience,” Bagby told Gala attendees.

Guests are greeted by an art deco-themed lounge and bar area complete with a 35-foot long bar, clusters of comfy chairs, outdoor seating area, and fireplace nook with sofas. Developer Russ Pearson said designers drew inspiration from art deco projects around the country, a theme that plays out with starburst designs incorporated into the flooring and custom lighting fixtures.

“The B&B design motif is very much ‘Old Hollywood,’ and the art deco time period is very specific between 1930 and 1935,” Pearson said. “It just so happened that the architect that designed Longview Farms, Henry Hoit, went on to become one of the preeminent designers in KC and went on to design a number of art deco projects in Kansas City.”

The opening of the 28,000-square foot complex comes just two months after B&B completed a multi-million dollar upgrade of Lee’s Summit 16 on Northeast Douglas Street. The project included extensive remodeling, the addition of a new MX4D concept and screenPLAY, an auditorium dedicated to families and young children that includes a playground.