T-L Photos/GAGE VOTA Director of communications for the mall’s parent, Cafaro Co., Joe Bell, expresses his excitement for a movie theater to once again be under the roof of the Ohio Valley Mall.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Ohio Valley Mall will have a movie theater under its roof once again.

The mall announced that Golden Ticket Cinemas will take the place of AMC Theater, which did not renew its lease with the mall this past September, and will be the first Golden Ticket location in the state of Ohio.

The cinema will feature luxury recliners, an extensive food and beverage menu, deliver-to-seat service, and upgraded visuals and sound. Golden Ticket Cinemas President John Bloemeke said patrons should expect a premium viewing experience.

“We’re bringing luxury reclining seating to every auditorium,” Bloemeke said. “We’re going to be bringing our own premium large format screen, which we call elite, which will be the region’s first 4K laser projection system, immersive sound, heated recliners, and an amazing experience.

“On top of that … we also are going to be expanding the menu significantly, where we’ll deliver to seat hot foods such as burgers, pizzas, wings, we even make milkshakes, donut bites, fried pickles,” he added. “We’ll also have options for adults with our 27-tap beer wall, which we call our Ale House concept, where you can get a card, get ID’d, and you can try any number of beers, and pick a beer and bring it into the movies, or have a seat in the lounge, in the lobby as well.”

He added that although a set opening date isn’t finalized, he feels strongly in saying that the theater will be open before the 2025 holiday season.

“Absolutely, before the holidays,” Bloemeke said. “We’re hoping to be earlier than that, but we can’t pin down a date just yet, not this early out, but I think it’s a safe bet.

The fourth quarter of 2025 will see some major movies released, he added, including sequels to “Avatar,” “Wicked” and “Zootopia.”

Joe Bell, director of communications for the mall’s parent, Cafaro Co., said that he is extremely excited to be able to announce the addition of Golden Ticket Cinemas to the mall and believes it will fill the gap that was left by AMC in September.

“We are thrilled to have a new and much better theater coming to the Ohio Valley Mall,” Bell said. “Golden Ticket Cinemas is probably the fastest-growing movie theater company in America right now, and they bring a premium style of experience to movie lovers.

“They are working hard to make sure this theater experience is bigger and better than people in the community have seen before, and they think people in this area deserve it,” Bell added. “If you enjoy sitting in a theater and watching the first-run flicks, you’re gonna like it here.”

Bloemeke added that he plans to try to keep prices in line with what AMC previously had.

He said that every Tuesday, all tickets are $5.75 for all seats.

“We have things like the annual popcorn bucket that you can buy once for a one-time purchase, but then you can bring it in and fill it up for a reduced price,” he said. “So we try to keep it accessible for anyone on a budget, and we want to make sure everyone gets to come out to the movies.”