Groton — Debora Price drove into the parking lot at the Groton Cinema 6 early Monday afternoon planning to catch a matinee with a couple of her friends.

Unfortunately, she discovered, the theater was closed.

"I had no idea," Price said. "The movie times were all online this morning."

The six-screen theater, which has occupied a freestanding building at the Groton Shoppers Mart on Poquonnock Road (Route 1), had shut down — apparently for good — Sunday night.

"Closed. Sorry For Any Inconvenience," read a sign on the front door Monday morning. Movie titles had been removed from the theater's marquee.

Town officials received no notice the theater was closing.

An employee at the Big Y supermarket that anchors the Shoppers Mart had a pretty good idea, though.

"Last night, about 8 o'clock, I saw two trucks there that were either moving stuff in or out — more likely out," Bryan White said Monday. The Big Y stands next to the Groton Cinema 6 building.

The theater is owned by Belmont Capital LLC of Cambridge, Mass., where an employee said Monday afternoon that the president of the company's theater division, Mark Benvenuto, was "on site" in Groton. Benvenuto had not returned a message by the end of the day.

"It's too bad," said Jonathan Reiner, Groton's director of planning and development services. "I'm sure people around town have a lot of memories of first dates and celebrations there."

Reiner noted that the Groton Cinema 6 building "has been around for a while," and that the theater's departure could give rise to "some opportunities" in the area.

"There could be some reinvestment into the plaza itself," he said. "A lot of old theater buildings have been converted to other uses. There's definitely a silver lining for the silver screen."

According to the website for Belmont Capital-owned theaters, www.yourneighborhoodtheatre.com, the company has more than a dozen movie theaters in New England and New York, including a North Smithfield, R.I., drive-in.

The Groton theater was built in 1965 and comprises 22,400 square feet. It's been assessed at $506,870.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck