In 2002 Bill & Sara Minihan came to Grand Rivers looking to relocate to the lakes area and had dreams of starting their own theater. “We always wanted to have something that was just the two of us, that the
creative process was all ours”, shared Sara. After exploring Grand Rivers and loving the town and location, the Minihans discovered that there was not a structure in town that could accommodate the caliper of
show that the couple had dreams of, so they broadened their search. The couple began looking at the abandoned but full of character Twin Cinema in downtown Paducah, Kentucky. The Minihans negotiated
and worked with the city in hopes of starting their own theater to no avail. The Minihans were not only looking for a place for a theater, they were looking for a home as well. On their way through Paducah one
evening, the couple pass a house that they knew that would like to call home and as luck would have it the Real Estate agent for the property was Chip Tullar. Chip was a new Realtor, and the owner of Patti’s
restaurant in Grand Rivers. The Minihans shared with Mr. Tullar their dreams and intents of opening a theater and Chip said “we are looking for that very thing in Grand Rivers, come talk to us”, Bill and Sara
did and the theater project was born. The newly formed Tourism Commission in Grand Rivers were enthusiastically on board with building a theater for the Minihans to lease and run, the City Council shared the excitement and saw the possibilities, and town meeting was held and the community was ready to be a part of this exciting new venture. The Grand Rivers Tourism Commission borrowed nearly $800,000 to construct the theater, leased the building to Minihan productions, and the dream became a reality. The
new performance center, named Grand Rivers Playhouse, was completed in 2004 and opening night of the theater was held on November 26. The Playhouse was filled with community members, friends, and family anxiously awaiting the first note to be played and the first song to be sung but, there was an important announcement that needed to be made before the show started. The Badgett family, owners of Badgett Terminal and community members, was excited as everyone in town about the new theater and wanted to insure its success and longevity. The Badgett family made a donation of $400,000 to the construction loan of the theater and the theater was renamed and dedicated as the “Badgett Playhouse”. The videos of the development, construction, and opening of The Badgett Playhouse are credited to William E. Gary IV. The original promo video is credited to Minihan Productions.