In a letter to Enzian supporters, Executive Vice President Elizabeth Tiedtke has confirmed what I first reported in my April article in The Orlando Weekly: The Enzian will indeed expand to a second and third screen.

“To respond to our community’s hunger for what we offer, we have developed plans to add two theaters to our current site, tucked behind the existing theater,” Tiedtke says. “Our aim is to honor and preserve the Enzian you know and love, simultaneously enhancing and improving the patron experience. The Old Florida oasis in front of the theater will remain just as it is, with the entrance to a new lobby and all three theaters just peeking around one corner. The new theaters, seating 80 and 50, will have Enzian-style seating and screens as large as our current screen. Programattically, we will offer more of what you love: more festivals, more single-event screenings and more variety. And we will stay open during this expansion, vowing the least possible disruption of your film, food and friends experience.”

The Enzian is asking for donations, which are partially tax-deductible.

“We will accomplish this only with the community’s support,” Tiedtke says. “Plans and more details will be revealed in the new year.”

Tiedtke’s description of the expansion sounds virtually identical to the preliminary plans filed with the City of Maitland last year and revealed for the first time in my Orlando Weekly article in April. However, that article, and Tiedtke’s comments, did not address the issue of parking.

(The Orlando Weekly reblogged this post, with the diagram of the preliminary construction proposal. See http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/index.php/for-reels/enzian-announces-expansion-plans-first-revealed-orlando-weekly-april/.)