Salmon Run Mall will gain a new 12-screen theater complex as part of an ongoing expansion project, mall manager Mary P. Dudo said Tuesday.

She said Regal Entertainment Group plans to open a new 2,000-seat cinema by next spring.

Rumors that Regal was planning to renovate and expand the eight-screen theater had been circulating since March, but Tuesday marked the first time details of those plans were revealed.

The 50,000-square-foot cinema complex will be the first phase of a two-part expansion project at the mall, which is owned by Salmon Run Shopping Center LLC, a subsidiary of Pyramid Cos., Syracuse.

According to a press release from Salmon Run and Pyramid, the new 12-screen complex will feature high-backed recliner seats, state-of-the-art digital projection and surround sound systems, a new lobby area and a computerized box office.

The complex, which will be built on the site of the current theater, also will have a new entrance to the mall's Food Court.

Mrs. Dudo said she had been meeting with the architects Tuesday morning to talk about the project.

"This is really an exciting development," she said. "It's a wonderful addition to the community. I just want to get it built."

A spokesman for Regal Cinemas Group could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

In May, a final site plan for the mall's expansion project was approved by the town of Watertown Planning Board.

Salmon Run officials then submitted a modified site plan to the town board in July for review and a phased site plan approval.

Should approval of the modified plan go through, construction of the new Regal Theater Complex is expected to start this fall and be completed by May.

The complex makes up Phase 1 of the mall's expansion plan, with Phase 2 construction set to take place in 2009 and 2010. The second phase will include 20,000 square feet of retail space, a 7,500-square-foot, free-standing restaurant and about 10,000 square feet of retail space between the mall's entrance on Arsenal Street and the Red Lobster restaurant.

Phase 2 also will feature an 8,600-square-foot free-standing retail space and 41,000 square feet of attached retail space at the mall.