AMC Lennox theater closes for good
AMC Theatres has permanently closed the Lennox Town Center 24 location on Kinnear Road, according to signs at the theater on Monday.
The closure was confirmed in a post on the AMC Theatres Facebook page on Monday, and in emails to customers. The Lennox theater was also removed from the AMC website.
Calls to AMC Theatres for comment were not immediately returned on Monday.
Lennox Town center and the AMC theater opened in 1996 on the site of a former air-conditioner production plant. Over the years, the shopping center grew into a hub of retail and restaurants, with the AMC theater opening a bar in 2012.
Other central Ohio AMC locations – Columbus 10 at Westpointe, Dublin Village 18, Easton 30 and Grove City 14 – are still operating and have movies listed on their websites.
The closing is the most visible central Ohio illustration of how the pandemic has crushed the theater industry, including AMC Entertainment, which owns the world’s largest movie theater circuit. The cinema chain reported a loss of over $900 million in the third quarter, and the company’s revenue was down 90% from the prior year quarter.
Although coronavirus cases are increasing and patrons are hesitant to
return to theaters, AMC has not announced plans to shut down nationally. Similarly, Cinemark Theatres and Marcus Theatres, which also have locations in central Ohio, have not mentioned an intent to close proactively.
Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse in Clintonville and Grandview Theater & Drafthouse are also remaining open.
Earlier in November, Gateway Film Center temporarily suspended in-person showings. Both the Drexel Theatre in Bexley and the Wexner Center for the Arts have been all-virtual since the spring, though the latter made an exception for one program of short films.
Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this story. ethompson@dispatch.com @miss_ethompson