Hampton 6 Essexville MI - WaterWinterWonderland.com

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1/16/2009 - Web

Hampton 5 movie theater closing its doors by Cole Waterman | Special to The Bay City Times

Wednesday January 14, 2009, 2:33 PM

Goodrich Quality Theater wants to donate building to nonprofit group

Moviegoers will have fewer theaters to chose from, as the Hampton 5 closes its doors for the last time today.

Located at 888 N. Pine Road in Hampton Township, the Goodrich Quality Theater had experienced prolonged lagging ticket sales.

"We're very fond of it, and our customers," said Reed L. Simon, area manager for Goodrich Quality Theaters in Grand Rapids. "Unfortunately, over the last several years, business is such that it's not supporting the theater anymore."

Despite recent attempts to keep the cinema afloat, business continued to sink.

"We tried a variety of different things over the last few years to revive it," Simon said, naming some of the alterations, like stadium seating and showing first-run movies.

"It never bounced back to how it was in late '80s and early '90s," he said. "The decision (to close) was finalized over the last two or three weeks. It was a difficult decision."

On the plus side, most managers and staff are not losing their jobs, as they will receive transfers to either the Bay City 8 theater inside the Bay City Mall, 4101 E. Wilder Road, or the Saginaw 8, 3250 Kabobel Drive in Saginaw County's Kochville Township.

On another positive note, the building the theater sat in may not go to waste. Goodrich is looking to donate the building to a local charity.

"We are so fond of the theater, rather than just let it sit empty or demolish it, we're hoping some charitable organization can find some use for it," Simon said.

3/17/2005 - Cactus Bob (Bobby Peacock)

I'm almost certain that this plex started out with only 4 screens. I suppose that the other two may have been added after the bowling alley next door stopped showing movies.

HomeMovie TheatersHampton 6

Hampton 6 - Essexville MI