The Eng Wah Group is spending $100 million to give its cineplexes a much needed facelift. All the halls in Suntec City, West Mall in Bukit Batok and Empress in Clementi will be fitted with new seats and a $500k ticketing system has been implemented at Suntec City and West Mall.

The group revealed its multi-million-dollar renovation plans for its retail and cinemas in December and it;s the third cinema chain here to upgrade its theatres this year following Golden Village and Shaw Theatres. Golden Village revamped its 18-year-old multiplex in Yishun and added digital projection and 3-D technology to three of its 10 halls. The cineplex reopened recently after the $5 million upgrade.

Shaw Theatres is also spending more than $16 million to add three new halls to its original eight at flagship cineplex Lido, which has been operating since 1993. The cineplex closed in October and is due to open in April. Eng Wah has been operating in Singapore since the 1940s. Work has already started for Eng Wah's renovation project. Its theatres at Jubilee and Toa Payoh have been shuttered for good but the entertainment centres will be renovated and new retail tenants added.

The cinemas at Empress, which have been closed for four years, are also being renovated now and will reopen as the operator's biggest cineplex with 10 halls and 1,300 seats in 2012. It will also be redeveloped as Empress Entertainment Centre, a shopping mall that will include the upgraded cineplex.

Eng Wah's other two cinemas in West Mall and Suntec City will also be given an overhaul. Besides its cinema business, the Eng Wah Group owns businesses in the retail industry and also Hotel Fort Canning, a five-star hotel at The Legends Fort Canning, which cost $70 million to build.

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