How many Drive-In theaters (still showing movies) are left in your city??

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Funny this thread would come up. Workmates and I have been talking about going to the Drive-in this summer & fall.

While most are long gone (Stratford had one I would go to weekly, until 1980 when the lot corner at the edge of town was converted to a transport truck parking lot) quite a few are still in operation here in Southwest Ontario mostly closeby the beach and vacation cottage areas.

The one I grew up going to is the Mustang outside London. The neon sign got re-furbished a few years back, they put up a new screen and of course the key to their survival was welcoming free admission for vintage car nights.

Dave

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www.mustangdrive-in.com

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None in Fresno anymore, which is really depressing. I LOVE drive-in's. But there is one in Madera which isn't too far away and one in Hanford.
 
Whirlcool, you know my turf

My childhood home was directly across from Wesson Oil. Look out my front window and there it was.
And I can still remember virtually every inch of the Community store... and da Jewel store too.
We used to take Gram's cart, walk over the bridge, shop and walk on back over. It was a nice time.
 
There's only one drive-in theater still operating in Las Vegas. Actually, it's located in neighboring North Las Vegas. The West Winds Las Vegas Drive-In first opened in 1966, and has been revamped several times over the years, with a total of five screens.
My childhood memories, however, are those of the drive-ins in California's San Fernando Valley, where I grew up. The drive-ins in Canoga Park, Van Nuys and Reseda were the ones my parents and friends would go to. Those speaker boxes you attached to the car! I loved the snack bars and (really fun) playgrounds right under the giant screen gave you somewhere to work off excess energy before the movie started at dusk. Many a time I fell asleep in the back of my neighbor's station wagon with friends after the second feature began.
Ah, memories!
 
The ONLY Drive-In Movie Place that I have ever been to--

--was a FLEA MARKET during the day on Weekends (Sat, Sun & Fri--I think) and of course, was a reg. "Motor Theater" at night!

I have never actually seen a drive-in movie (maybe because I didn't have an older brother to hide in the back seat of his car on dates with--LOL!)...

There used to be one near my house with a vacant lot behind it, and a friend of mine & myself used to ride our bikes in the vacant lot, of which there was a tall wooden fence surrounding the drive-in w/ enough holes & cracks in it (not to mention neighboring houses behind it) to see (but not hear) a movie for free! The screen was also visible from down a street leading to it, too--before reaching a "dead end"...

Too bad that theater is gone--and too bad I got hooked on riding my bike in that vacant lot before I got "Phil Ochs-ed" for my bike and was lucky to be able to walk out & go back home just for my mom & dad who have long told me how unsafe it was to be going to that vacant lot (probably a MILE or more from my house!) and that "I had NO BUSINESS going there!--direct quote from my mom!)... Luckily, too, a friend of mine at school who lived down the street from me told me that he saw my bike hanging at the police station, too; he was there to retrieve a bike stolen from him--from his own back yard!

Lastly, there was a 1981-1983 Chrysler Imperial 2-Door (probably NOT a Frank Sinatra Edition!) that was on the street leading to that vacant lot--and a "highlight" of that location...

-- Dave
 
Paul:

It is a small world, isn't it?
That 31st bridge is a long one! My mom & aunt used to take me to a place called "Birdie Pak" that had a lot of frozen meat for sale. The hamburgers you bought there were pretty good. I still remember all the sawdust on the floor in that place. I think it was 1 block or so east of 31st & Pulaski.
 
It is a small world

Yes I do remember "Birdie Pak". Every cookout on 31st probably used their stuff. It probably was just East of Pulaski. Arlene's bake shop was also nearby.
You're walking up and down my block. I did live on 31st Street, went to school with the Perrinos (who own Home Run Inn) and did all that stuff.
I'm surprised you know that stretch so much. I thought you were in the Hinsdale/Oakbrook area (which turned out to be my High-School years stomping grounds).
The "Cicero "bridge made life somewhat interesting. As you know it was a truck route and accidents do happen. One time there was meat all over the bridge and other time hair-spray went rolling down the bridge. Never a dull moment! LOL!
 
none that I know of in San Diego and Orange Counties

The two in the area where I grew up in San Diego (Midway and Frontier Drive-ins) disappeared by the early 1980s. Orange County had the Highway 39 Drive-in operating into the early 1990s, but it's gone as well. The Orange Drive=in Theater still exists as a swap meet, but hasn't shown films in years. Land is just too valuable here to use for drive-in theaters.

I suppose in the 40s and 50s, drive-ins may have been more popular in California than in colder regions, for the simple reason that one could comfortably use the theaters nearly year round. One might have to wear a car coat or sweater in winter to stay warm, but I don't remember the theaters shutting down for winter. The show times changed a bit because it was dark earlier during the winter. I also remember lower prices in winter: sometimes a flat rate per car, like $8, rather than charging per person. The Midway had a children's playground in an area in front of the screen (screen was high enough that play equipment didn't block the view).

I never went to a multi-screen drive-in. There used to be the Tu-Vu Drive-in in Kearny Mesa section of San Diego, near present-day Montgomery Field Airport. There is also a dilapidated surviving two-screen drive-in in Oceanside, CA (also near the Oceanside AIrport), but it appears to be used only for swap meets, and the screens are crumbling.

Below is a delightful article on the history of San Diego drive-ins, as well as a typical ad (probably from the San Diego Union or Evening Tribune) featuring all of the area drive-ins.

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www.sandiegoreader.com

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One time there was meat all over the bridge and other time hair-spray went rolling down the bridge.

And I bet it was Aqua-Net hairspray too. The Demert & Dougherty company was on Cicero Av just north of I-55. That's where they made Aqua-Net.

I went to Hindsdale Central High, class of 69'. Which school did you go to?
 
We used to have many.

Now we have but one.  The Starlight. 

 

I remember as kids, Mom would pop a brown grocery bag of popcorn, fill the cooler with Shasta pop from Safeway 10 for $1, and we would go to a tripple feature. 

 

Back in the late 80's one of the last closed down with a "Friday the 13th" marathon.  Let me tell you after about the third one you are rooting that Jason "does it for mommy". 

 

 
 
Does anyone remember "airconditioned" drive-ins? You paid extra and pulled up to a small unit by the speaker stand. It had a hose that you put in your window with the speaker and you had a/c or heat! There was at least one in the St. Pete Fl area in the 60's but I can't remember where.
 
Ours closed in the early 80's I'm told, I'd left town by then. It was called the Star Top Drive In later renamed the Mustang, they must have been a chain looking at Davey's post. Last movie I remember seeing there was Munsters Go Home.

Here some pics

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All gone here

I loved the drive-ins around here back "in the day".  The White Horse, Wade Hampton, and Augusta Road Drive Ins would show current movies.  The South 29 and Cedar Lane Drive Ins showed X rated movies.   I loved the neon lights and the smells from the concession stands.  The drive ins were great!  You could drink, smoke, and whatever else you wanted to in your car. And you could wear just a pair of gym shorts when it was warm if you wanted to!  Most of the above drive ins closed around the early 80's and were turned into flea markets.  Now, where the White Horse was there is a big intersection of US123 and US25.  There are apartments where the Wade Hampton and Augusta Road Drive Ins were.  There is a convenience store where South 29 sat.  The big screen, with many of the tiles on the screen falling off,  still stands just behind the store.  I had a lot of fun at our drive ins when I was a younger man.  Good times.  Good memories.  So sad they are all gone.  Two tears in a bucket.  I drove a 1973 Chevrolet Impala sport coupe during those days.  One night I burned a hole in the headliner in the backseat at the Cedar Lane Drive In.  I saw that car many years later at a tire store.  I looked inside and saw the hole in the headliner and smiled at the great memory that was associated with that hole.    

[this post was last edited: 8/9/2011-10:38]
 
Sweet thread, and funny this should come up, I was at the Drive-In this past Saturday night. This is one of three left in Nova Scotia, I love the experience!

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www.valleydrivein.com
 
Funny story.....

While growing up, our phone number was one digit off from the "Vermont Drive-In" in a neighboring city. Every weekend without fail, the phone would ring, often during dinner, with someone asking what movie is playing. A few times when the phone rang and the voice asked “Can you tell me what’s playing?”, my mom, instead of saying “I’m sorry you’ve got the wrong number” would answer “Three kids at the table”. The voice then said “OK, thank you” and hung up.

We all had a good laugh when this happened, because my mom wasn't lying! LOL

Kevin
 
Most DI's can't afford the cost to update to digital-the cost of a new digital projector needed to fill the DI screen is more expensive than for a "hardtops" smaller screens.I would think with the sound systems in cars today-if the DI bought the new digital projector(he was into movies and would take the financial risk)The soundtrack would sure sound good on a modern car system broadcast by a small HD-IBOC transmitter at the theater.thats just a dream,though.Seriously-the land the DI theater takes up is more valueable as shopping center and housing development space.and another matter modern digital projectors like to run in a clean booth area-DI projection rooms are often hot and dusty.Even with film-can be difficult.
 
We still have one here with either 4 or 6 screens.  Part of the week and on weekend days it's used for a swap meet.

 

I did go past the closed one in Tucson just this past weekend.  The screen is gone but the vintage sign and symmetrical rows of speaker posts are still there.
 

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