Crews work to refurbish Creekside Center, which will host Alamo Drafthouse and a host of new restaurants

The long-awaited Alamo Drafthouse and surrounding restaurants at Skillman-AbramsĀ is becoming a reality.

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That flurry of activity you may have noticed at the shopping center surrounding the old Tom Thumb (the even older Simon David) is the work of landlord, Retail Plazas, Inc. (RPI). The companyā€™s contractors, which moved onsite this week, are beginning redevelopment of the center, which they are renaming Creekside.

ā€œItā€™s not always the case that landlords and neighborhoods work this well together,ā€ laughed Trey Hodge, VP of RPI as we stood in the centerā€™s parking lot watching construction vehicles and work crews buzz about, ā€œbut lots of people from around here have contacted me to say they are excited about whatā€™s coming. Itā€™s been blighted and ugly for some time, and we get that. Neighbors want the Alamo Drafthouse, they want the new restaurants, and they are going to get them.ā€

RPI began refurbishment last week, working to get the faƧade ready for Alamo to begin ā€œinside workā€ thisĀ week.

ā€œThe optimists say Alamo will be ready to open in four months,ā€ said Hodge, laughing again. ā€œThe pessimists say it will be six. We will see.ā€

While AdvocateĀ readers in both East Dallas and Lake Highlands have debated in which neighborhood this project is located, movie buffs to the north and south will have a new option for cinema, not to mention the restaurant possibilities, coming soon.

Construction crews work on the old Tom Thumb at Skillman-Abrams