BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — In a Facebook post made Wednesday, the Woodland Mall in Bowling Green announced that Cinemark has issued a notice of the permanent closure of the 5-screen theater that has been a longtime staple in the community. The post went on to include the contents of the notice that Woodland Mall had received from Cinemark.
The notice cites the COVID-19 outbreak as the cause for the immediate closure of the Cinemark Woodland Mall Cinema 5. Cinemark also highlighted the financial hardship caused by the mandated closures of movie theaters across the nation (which they praised as a wise decision) resulting in the ultimate decision not to reopen the Woodland Mall location.
Cinemark confirmed to WTOL that the location will be closed permanently but stated they were not speaking on any other potential closures.
The Woodland Mall theater has been in operation for 31 years, known especially for offering cheap tickets. Woodland Mall offered transparency in the social media post, acknowledging the mall "has lived its glory days" but intends on "prevailing" through the circumstances. The goal of the announcement was to eliminate speculation and opinions surrounding the closure of the cinema.
Cinemark owns various locations across northwest Ohio, including Franklin Park, Fallen TImbers, Levis Commons and Tiffin. According to their website as of December 2019, they operate the third largest chain of theaters in the United States, with locations also in Latin America and South America.
A prior press release by Cinemark announced the planned reopening of some locations on July 24.
