HAYWARD -- Lights, camera -- feedback.

Thursday night will be one of the first official screenings of the proposed Cinema Place project, and audience participation is welcome.

The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing during its scheduled review of plans for Cinema Place, which would be anchored by Century Theaters and Cost Plus World Market. The downtown project, under development by Danville-based Blake Hunt Ventures, is slated to go atop city-owned land that's now the old Albertsons supermarket.

The plans call for a two-story, 130,000-square-foot complex that would front on B Street and Foothill Boulevard. The ground floor would be devoted to Cost Plus and other shops and eateries. The movie theater, with its 72-foot-high rotunda, would be on the second floor, along with a few spaces for other retailers.

The project also includes an adjacent 356-space, four-level parking garage, half of which is being subsidized by the city's redevelopment agency. Drivers could access the garage from Foothill Boulevard and C Street.

The original plan called for a 200-space, two-level garage. But the city agreed to foot the bill for the extra parking in response to complaints about an earlier plan that proposed a municipal garage across the street on Municipal Lot No. 2. That plan has been put on hold, but the design work is being completed because a consultant was already midway when things changed, said Redevelopment Director Maret Bartlett.

Cinema Place's design features -- some of which were added in response to the City Council's review of a preliminary plan last spring -- include a "dramatic" staircase up to the theater from B Street, art deco and modern lines, "striking" neon lighting and a water wall, said Planning Manager Dyana Anderly.

The upper level includes a balcony overlooking B Street and a large movie theater lobby. The complex will exceed the city's height restrictions, but Anderly said that serves to distinguish "Foothill and B Street as the entry to the downtown spine and the use of the property as a major entertainment venue."

The plan is predicated on a change in the city's street plan allowing left turns to be made onto B Street from northbound Foothill Boulevard.

The commission's job is to hear the public, review the project and related zone change, and vote on whether to recommend it to the City Council, which is scheduled to do its own review on July 13.

Many consider the project a linchpin in ongoing efforts to rejuvenate downtown Hayward as a destination for residents and out-of-towners.

"It's certainly a catalyst for taking things to the next level," said Hayward Chamber of Commerce President Scott Raty. "It would accelerate what otherwise might take a bunch of years to happen."

Considering the project's scale, it hasn't triggered much in the way of community input. In response to a notice sent out in May to surrounding properties, city staff received only one e-mail from a resident supporting the project.

The most controversial part of the plan to date was the garage on Municipal Lot No. 2, which business owners feared would have killed business during the construction phase.

Another hill to conquer, however, is getting a lease and development agreement signed between the city and Blake Hunt Ventures.

"It all depends upon the city's response to things we're requesting," said lead developer Brad Blake.

That agreement is also scheduled for City Council consideration on July 13, which will include a public hearing. If the council approves the preliminary development plans for Cinema Place, the developer then will submit "precise" plans that are subject only to staff review.

If all goes as planned, the theater could open as early as the 2006 holiday season.

Due to recent closings, there are no remaining movie theaters in Hayward.