‘Train Gang’ closes up former Crown Center location
As Washington Crown Center continues its transformation into Franklin Crossroads Park, the Train Gang of Washington County has packed up its display.
For eight years the group had its elaborate display of trains and a miniature downtown Washington set up in the mall. Visiting the display was free, but the group collected donations for local charities.
Joe Jack, the group’s president, said they began moving out about 3 weeks ago after learning about the new owner’s plans for the mall.
“We just politely decided among ourselves, you know, maybe we should pack this up,” Jack said.
PREP Funds, a commercial real estate fund management and advisory firm based in Cleveland, and Industry Realty Group LLC, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate group, finalized the sale of the North Franklin Township property last month from Kohan Retail Investment Group.
Demolition began at the mall shortly after the sale. The portion of the mall where the train display was will become a business park for various corporate uses.
Currently, the Train Gang does not have a home and the display is stored in a Washington warehouse.
According to Jack, the group was always ready to lose access to the space.
“We were prepared for it the first day we moved in,” Jack said.
Every holiday season the train display attracted visitors young and old, and the Train Gang used it as an opportunity to raise money for various local charities.
Jack estimates the train display received about 100,000 visitors, and that they raised about $45,000 for charity.
“Keeping it going has been a labor of love,” Jack said. “When little kids walk in with that smile on their face and started running all over the place, that was our reward.”
Jack doubts it is possible they could find a suitable space and rebuild the display in time for Christmas. He notes they have seen many options already, but that they require somewhere that would allow them to keep the train display up year round.
Even if they found such a location, it takes them about two months to put it all together.
“If it would show up tomorrow, there is just not enough time to build what we had,” Jack said.
Jack said he is appreciative of all the visitors the train display received over the years, and hopes that by next Christmas season they have found a new home.
“Its been great. It’s been fun. We’ve entertained a lot of people and made a lot of people happy,” Jack said.