Brookfield Square’s multimillion-dollar redevelopment project will reach a major milestone next month when its two centerpiece concepts are complete.
Marcus Theatres-owned Movie Tavern and Chicago-based restaurant and entertainment center WhirlyBall are slated to open on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12, respectively.
Those opening dates were announced Wednesday during a media event, which included tours of both the 40,000-square-foot Movie Tavern and 45,000-square-foot WhirlyBall buildings currently under construction at the southeast side of the mall.
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- One of Movie Tavern’s eight auditoriums.
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- The entrance and lobby area inside Movie Tavern.
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- Rolando Rodriguez, chairman, president and CEO of Marcus Theatres outside Movie Tavern.
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- WhirlyBall’s upper-level private event room has a 200-person seating capacity.
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- WhirlyBall will be played on two main-level courts.
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- WhirlyBall’s has eight bowling lanes on the main level and four VIP bowling lanes on the second level
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- One of WhirlyBall’s 24-tap craft beer bars.
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- Adam Elias, VP of strategic planning at WhirlyBall.
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- Brookfield Square’s newly constructed southern entrance connects to both Movie Tavern and WhirlyBall.
The 871-seat Movie Tavern by Marcus will include eight auditoriums each with DreamLounger recliners and laser projectors as well as a 60-seat outdoor lounge area with oversized screens for streaming sporting events and other entertainment. Similar to Marcus’ BistroPlex at Southridge Mall in Greenfield, Movie Tavern will have in-theater dining, a chef-driven menu and full-service bar.
However, food and beverage orders will be placed more traditionally at the theater’s full concession stand (or at the bar or via mobile app).
“(BistroPlex) gave us a lot of unique feedback from our guests who said they still like the idea of a concession stand, so what we did is we introduced a hybrid of a concession ordering process but we still deliver to your seats,” said Rolando Rodriguez, chairman, president and CEO of Marcus Theatres.
In February, Marcus acquired the New Orleans-based Movie Tavern chain from VSS-Southern Theatres LLC for $126 million. The new Brookfield theater is the first and the only Movie Tavern location in the works for the area and the state, the company said.
WhirlyBall, which is named after a game that combines basketball, lacrosse, hockey and bumper cars, will house two main-level courts for that game. The “eatertainment” venue will also include eight bowling and HyperBowling lanes, a 30-person laser tag area, a 200-seat upper-level private event space and the company’s sit-down restaurant concept called The Pivot Room. In addition, its two main-level bars will feature 24 rotating craft beers on tap. Another upper-level bar will focus on cocktail and bottle service.
WhirlyBall at Brookfield Square is the company’s first Wisconsin location, and its fourth-ever location since launching 25 years ago.
