I’m no party pooper, but building a multiplex theater in Town Center is a terrible idea.

New construction would turn Fountain Hills into a chaotic mess. Construction creates noise, dust, dirt, congestion, traffic backups and disorder. Heavy machinery is no pretty backdrop for art shows, markets or existing businesses.

Ground breaking on undisturbed land puts us at risk for Valley Fever, a contagious lung condition caused when fungus spores, stirred by construction, get into the lungs.  Those at highest risk include diabetics, cancer and Hodgkin’s patients, and the elderly.  Is it worth the potential risk of disturbing this underground fungus?

Construction waste, including debris, cans, bags, etc., gets buried underground. Port-a-johns are needed for the project’s duration, both unpleasant at best.

Plans call for a large parking lot. Asphalt in 100-degree weather is scorching to walk on and it magnifies temperatures exponentially. The proposed lot is completely obtrusive to nearby residents, encroaching upon their back yards and eliminating an existing walkway.

A mega theater will block the view of our beloved Fountain. People don’t come here to watch movies, they come for our world-famous Fountain. Residents and visitors have no interest in seeing a giant building.

Theaters promote loitering, littering, lighting, noise, late nights, traffic confusion, bored teenagers, security risks, police burden, snack containers, skateboarders, scavengers, Dumpsters, etc.

There are many vacant buildings available. A new theater in town would likely end up as an empty eyesore.

A project requiring variances because of its enormity is no project for Town Center. The convenience of periodically watching a movie does not outweigh the drawbacks of this wasteful, misbegotten project.

We live here because of the small-town charm, not in spite of it. Don’t cheapen Fountain Hills by making it just like every other suburbia.