On Sunday, November 8, AMC Woodridge announced that it’s doors would be closing permanently following the showing of its final movie.

The AMC Woodridge-18 theatre was located at 10000 Woodward Avenue in Woodridge, Il, and had a 21 year run following it’s opening day of March 12th, 1999. 

This closure marks the latest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been shutting down local businesses both temporarily and permanently since March 2020. On March 16, AMC announced the temporary closure of several Chicagoland theaters, including Woodridge, Lombard, Naperville, Oakbrook and Rosemont. 

Following these closures, the company announced in June that they had “substantial doubts” the Woodridge location would be able to survive the pandemic. The closure was supposed to last until June, but with the cases still rising, was delayed until August. This may have been the last straw for the theater, as the continued shut down cost them vital revenue. 

Along with AMC, several other theater companies are feeling the harsh effects of the pandemic due to changing opinions among people on what safety in public looks like. 

“Because of the pandemic, I’m kind of apprehensive towards going to movie theaters because one, it’s not really six feet apart and two, we stopped going because my mom’s very high risk and we don’t want to risk her health” Kaitlyn Tuvilleja, a Woodridge resident said.

“I haven’t gone to a theater since COVID started,” Megan Hendry said. “Not that I don’t want to, I just haven’t thought about going. I have been watching movies at home instead of going out.” 

Before the shutdown, many Lemont and Woodridge residents created memories throughout their childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Current teenagers in particular grew up going to this theater frequently. 

“I think this theater played a really large role in my life because it was so close to my house so my family would go there when we wanted to see a movie,” Tuvilleja adds.  “I’ve always enjoyed seeing some of my friends and peers there as well. I also went there with my friends a lot and there were just so many memories associated there.”

Hendry used to be a regular visitor of the theater, before the COVID-19 shutdown. 

“I visited the theater 2-3 times a year, but used to attend once a month a few years ago” Hendry said.  “It used to be my favorite place to hang out with friends and we always had a great time” 

Similar to Tuvilleja and other residents, Hendry says that the theater played a large part in her childhood due to its proximity and promise for a fun time. 

“I would definitely say it had a huge role in my childhood!” Hendry says. “I attended very often when I was younger and met up with tons of friends there. We had lots of good times and I have been to that theater with every friend I have ever known! It was local, convenient and lots of fun.” 

Despite the disappointment of this location closing, AMC still has hope for other local theaters to survive these difficult times. For those still looking to make movie memories, the closest AMC theater to Lemont is the Naperville-16, located at 2815 Showcase Drive, Naperville Illinois.