Hollywood 24 Regal Cinemas, DeKalb County, Georgia

Columbia Engineering was the lead consultant for Regal Cinemas in the development of the “Hollywood 24” – Regal Cinema Theater on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County, Georgia. The site was previously a drive-in theater and had existed for many years. It was commonly used as a flea market on weekends as well as a theater.

Columbia Engineering provided land planning as well as site civil engineering and landscape and irrigation designs for the 24 screen- 5228 seat theater built on the 32.2 acre site.

The project had a series of challenges that had to be overcome in order for the project to be built. First was the presence of rock throughout the site as well as the existence of the Peachtree Creek floodplain and wetlands around the perimeter of the site. Columbia Engineering hired the necessary geotechnical and environmental consultants to help solve the problems. Site planning was adjusted to avoid or have minimal impact on the floodplain and wetlands. Floodplain compensating fill volumes were computed so that there would be no upstream or downstream impacts related to flooding. Wetlands were avoided and so wetland permitting was not necessary. The location of the rock was determined and the grading was done to minimize the amount of rock to be moved.

Significant areas of existing trees and natural vegetation were preserved around the perimeter of the parking area. The large parking area, over 1700 spaces, was softened with the addition of many islands planted with trees, shrubs and sod.

The theater parking was originally designed with 1710 parking spaces, but was expanded 4 years later to add another 271 spaces to accommodate over-flow crowds on busy weekends. Columbia again provided design services for that expansion.