Curtain call for local theater complex

Demolition crews raze Franklin Park Cinemas

A demolition crew brings down the final curtain on the Franklin Park Cinemas at 5235 Monroe St. in Sylvania Township.

The five-screen theater complex was the last remaining theater in the area once belonging to the National Amusements Inc. chain.

The Dedham, Mass. theater company once dominated the Toledo area market but sold its theaters in 2010 to Rave Cinemas, who in turn was acquired by Cinemark Holdings earlier this year.

The Franklin Park Cinemas and the shopping center on which it sits was acquired in September by Devonshire REIT Inc., of nearby Whitehouse. Two other National Amusement theaters on Secor Road and in Springfield Township, were torn down to make way for a hotel and an Art Van Furniture store, respectively. A fourth cineplex on Conant Street in Maumee was sold to Calvary Assembly of God in 2010 and converted to a church.