After battle with bugs, Plaza movie theater is open again

Cinemark Palace at the Plaza, which recently had been closed, said Wednesday it had found “insects” at the multi-theater complex and had refurbished its seats.

In a statement, a Cinemark spokesman did not identify the insects.

The Kansas City Health Department confirmed Wednesday that it received an anonymous complaint on Sept. 28 about “bedbugs at Cinemark at the Plaza.”

Jeff Hershberger, spokesman for the Health Department, said the anonymous complaint was made to the city’s 311 Action Center.

“We contacted (Cinemark) on Sept. 29, and they stated they were aware of the situation and were already taking steps to address it,” Hershberger said.

The complex at 526 Nichols Road shut down last week. It is now reopen.

On Wednesday, after being asked by The Star about the complaint to the health department, Cinemark spokesman James Meredith said:

“Cinemark identified the presence of a small number of insects in our Palace theatre. Therefore, we did not reopen the theatre to our valued guests until we were certain that the inspection and removal process had been completed by a qualified extermination service and the problem had been fully remediated. Afterwards, Cinemark took an extra step and refurbished the seats in our auditoriums to further ensure that the issue had been resolved.”

Meredith did not comment further Wednesday night.