A new movie theater, Hartnell outpost and ballpark improvements mean good news for Soledad.

In 2013, after Pinnacles was upgraded from a national monument to a national park, the city of Soledad just to the west rebranded.

Instead of “It’s Happening in Soledad,” the city slogan became “Gateway to the Pinnacles.” Now, five years later, it really is happening in Soledad, with multiple projects on the recreation, entertainment and education front.

Premiere Cinemas, based in Hollister (with a second theater in Los Banos) is set to open its third location in Soledad. General Manager Craig Tankersley expects they’ll break ground within two months, and be open when Christmas movies open. The eight-screen theater is expected to hire up to 40 workers, mostly part-time.

“We are excited about going to Soledad,” Tankersley says. “We want to go where the need is, and we felt there was a need in that area.”

Other needs are also being met in different ways. Dole donated $54,000 for new baseball scoreboards at Gallardo Park, and the city invested $1.8 million on three new baseball diamonds, two with lights for nighttime play. (The third is wired, and lights will be installed when there’s money for that final stage.)

“There’s a really good synergy around here,” Mayor Fred Ledesma says. “People are seeing things getting done.”

Recreation and education are the two primary needs, Ledesma adds, and Soledad is also getting a boost on the education front. As a condition of development approval, home builders set aside 8 acres in Soledad intended as parkland. But now, with the land poised to transfer to the city, Ledesma and City Councilman Alejandro Chavez saw less of a need for another park than they did for a satellite campus – and a source of funding to make that happen thanks to Measure T, a Hartnell College bond measure that voters approved in 2016.

“We as a community deserve it,” says City Councilman Alejandro Chavez. “Our community is going to be better for it.”