Show times begin next summer.

Unified Government of Wyandotte County officials broke ground last week on The Legends 14 Theatre, a new addition to the Village West entertainment and tourism district in western Wyandotte County. Construction is due to begin in the next 30 days and it is due to open by the summer of 2005.

Village West is the 400-acre district at the intersection of Interstates 435 and 70 and is home to the Kansas Speedway, Nebraska Furniture Mart and Cabela’s, the three top tourist attractions in the state. The movie theater will be constructed inside the next major Village West attraction, The Legends at Village West, a 700,000-square-feet open-air shopping center.

When completed, Legends 14 will provide a new destination for residents in Basehor, Bonner Springs and Tonganoxie to catch the latest flicks.

The new 14-screen, 3,000-seat movie theater, will feature wide-screen formats, 24-inch seats, 52-inch wide row spacing and state-of-the-art sound systems. It will also feature the largest auditorium in the Kansas City metropolitan area, developers said.

One of the auditoriums will include a four-story-tall and 80-foot-wide screen and will house more than 600 spectators with premium balcony seating.

Gould Evans Goodman, a firm with offices in Kansas City, Lawrence and Overland Park and one that specializes in movie theatre design, is the architect on the project. The firm has designed more than 2,000 theaters.