Knoxville City Councilman Nick Della Volpe last week indicated he will be asking some questions about the Regal Entertainment Group corporate welfare of the City of Knoxville administration. The issue that no one on County Commission dared to ask the County Mayor, before giving away $1.5 million taxpayer county dollars. It is quite embarrassing that all the Commissioners bought in to the story Regal could and would leave Knox County. Thanks to Megan Boehnke over at the Knoxville News Sentinel in her story here today, we learn that was just a lie straight out of Knox County’s Sixth Floor Suite occupied by the Knox County Mayor.
A few questions that need to be asked are, When will the repayment for the Gay Street theater be completed? What guarantees does Knoxville and Knox County have that Regal will stay and keep the jobs they have? Is Governor Bill Haslam’s personal investment in the Gay Street theater still on the table or has he been made whole and out of the personal investment?
A quick review of Wikipedia of Billionaire Philip Anschutz here we learn that he reportedly owns more than half of Regal Entertainment Group. More surprising than that fact is how Regal Entertainment Group is described on Anschutz page, “Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie theater chain in the world, with approximately 7,000 screens. Anschutz owns more than half of the company, which is a collection of former bankrupt chains.”
See below pics from the Wikipedia page, if any of this information is in error, Representatives of Regal or Mr. Anschutz can correct on Wikipedia and are welcome to contact me and I will correct it on this website.
