The owners of CineMagic 7 are speaking out against the deal for Hy-Vee to acquire and develop Oak Park mall, and the theater is looking to get out of its lease. However, it appears an agreement approved last month for Hy-Vee to acquire the mall property is still on target to be finalized next week.

Odyssey Entertainment, the owner of CineMagic 7, issued a statement Thursday night arguing the current plan would be detrimental to the theater, a statement it also posted to the CineMagic 7 Theatre Facebook page.

In October, the Austin Port Authority approved a $2.9 million deal for Hy-Vee to acquire the main parcel of the mall property with the help of a $3.65 million Hormel Foundation grant.

The plan is to demolish the building between Younkers and the theater for Hy-Vee to build a 60,000- to 90,000-square-foot grocery store.

Mall redevelopment plans call for no changes to be made to the open area of the mall in front of CineMagic 7 and Anytime Fitness; however, the former, abandoned Hy-Vee store just north of the theater attached to the mall will be removed.

Odyssey ownership argued it supported the initial stages of the project and submitted building plans that detailed how the mall could be torn down while adding a new exterior front that provided direct access to the cinema. However, Odyssey spoke out against the plan to keep the commons area.

“The plan (or afterthought) for the Cinema is utterly preposterous as it will trap us in what amounts to a dead-end experimental retail alleyway with no storefront, no signage and the loss of its indoor shopping center community which the Cinema depended on,” Odyssey President Steve Tripp said in a press release. “It appears the big players see little value in addressing our concerns or seeing Austin’s only cinema remain open. We have enjoyed serving the community but with the current plans as we understand them, that could be coming to an end.”

Craig Byram, the Austin Port Authority’s attorney, issued a statement Friday morning: “The Port authority disagrees with the factual statements and allegations contained in the Odyssey press release,” Byram wrote in an email to the Herald. “We are disappointed that Odyssey has expressed a negative opinion about a project that every other participating party and the general public unanimously agrees is a huge step forward for the community. We believe that, as this project progresses, the public will continue to recognize the substantial positive impact this project represents.”

The Austin Port Authority and city officials will continue toward finalizing the agreement, which the port authority unanimously approved Oct. 19. The agreement is still slated to close next week since Odyssey does not need to sign off on the agreement. Under that agreement for Hy-Vee to acquire the mall, there were no proposed changes to the theater’s current lease. The lease, however, will be taken over by Hy-Vee.

“As the future landlord, Hy-Vee will meet the obligations as outlined in the lease,” Hy-Vee officials wrote in a statement to the Herald. “We will be making improvements to accommodate CineMagic 7 Cinema’s operation, and we hope that they remain a tenant in the center.”

Bryan Sieve, Odyssey’s vice president of finance and development stated in the release that theater officials voiced their desire to either have a new exterior theater storefront with direct exterior access or for the mall to remain part of “a shopping mall in a traditional sense with safe and secure common gathering areas internally accessible to all shopping mall tenants”

“The current plan as we understand it does neither, is risky and unreasonable in our opinion,” Sieve said in the release.

Odyssey argued its proposed plan would have retained space on either side of the cinema for other retail businesses, including Anytime Fitness.

The bulk of the Oak Park Mall closed in late 2014. Currently, only CineMagic 7 and Anytime Fitness remain in the commons area next to Shopko.

About six months ago, Odyssey commenced a suit against the current mall owners — Chicago-based Martin Graff of M H Graff & Associates Inc. and Martin Goldman of M J Goldman & Co. Ltd. The suit was for breach of the lease and failure to secure, heat, light, maintain access and otherwise maintain the shopping mall and its parking lot.

Now, Odyssey is looking to get out of its current lease.

“Odyssey has little choice but to ask the court to allow it to exit the lease, cease operations and award damages for breach and a forced termination of the Cinema lease,” Sieve said in the release. “Both the Port Authority and Hy-Vee were advised of our concerns six months ago which they have largely ignored.”

Younkers officials were not immediately available for comment Friday morning.