Five years after its closure in 2020, the AMC movie theater in downtown Big Rapids is undergoing renovations and refurbishment.
The Big Rapids City Council approved the refurbishment of the AMC theater on March 17. The original AMC movie theater closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has not reopened.
Big Rapids City Manager Mark Gifford talked about supporting the movie theater in any way the city commission can.
“We’re going to really get behind this and see if we can make it happen. The commission thinks this is super important and is willing to offer financial resources to try and make it happen,” Gifford said. “We work on behalf of you and everybody else who’s here. So that’s what we’ve always heard is how important this is to the community. So we just wanted to realize that vision.”
Gifford explained that he, along with the mayor of Big Rapids, conducted a survey. One of the top-rated things people requested or complained about was the lack of a movie theater.
With authorization from the city council, the theater is getting some necessary refurbishment to include modern amenities.
The new owner of the theater Jordan Stancil described his plans for the theater.
“I would like to describe it as a really cute downtown theater you know and I think that what will be inside is very stylish and cool and you know it’s a small theater, I think what really should be as something that you know that people feel is kind of has a little bit of a luxurious feel to it,” Stancil said. “Something where they want to come very frequently cause we really want people to come to the movies as much as possible so that means keeping the prices reasonable and making sure that this is a place that is extremely clean and like I say also has some touches of luxury.”
Stancil owns and operates two movie theaters in Grayling and Alpena.
He explained how his family has been in the movie theater business in Michigan since 1915 and recalled his experience in the family business.
“I really like the idea of coming into a community that needs the theater to be refurbished,” Stancil said. “I mean that’s kind of something that I’ve done before and so that’s kind of how I got into it, but in terms of the movie theater business, it has a long history for my family.”
The movie theater promises to bring the community together and increase student foot traffic. Students were asked about their thoughts about the movie theater and going to the theater.
Education sophomore Martha Rutherford talked about how she would go for the experience.
“I think it’s awesome. I have multiple streaming subscriptions, but I would still go to the movie theater,” Rutherford said. “ I do when there’s one available because the experience is so much fun. You get to go with your friends or a group of people, and it’s just a good time.”
Rutherford explained how great it was to have a theater because there were not a lot of activities to do in Big Rapids, especially not being year-round.
Places like this allow students to grab a group of friends, pull out the popcorn and see the newest movies in theaters.
Social work sophomore Kerstyn Clark gave her opinion about the concept of a movie theater in Big Rapids.
“I feel like that would be a very good thing. I feel it would bring more students out of their dorms and out of their residence halls on Ferris,” Clark said. “There is a lot of things to do out here, but when you think about it it’s just school and the activities on campus, but having an activity off campus would be great.”
The AMC movie theater will reopen later this year. No official opening date has been confirmed yet.