Drive-In movies

[Pikapower]

Discuss!

[ynkeesfn82]

We have one in Southington. It's owned by the town. Most of the movies are classics and are shown every Saturday Night during the summer. Each Saturday night a different Non-Profit hosts the movie and they get some of the money. It's $10 per car if you live in town and $15 per car if you don't live in town. Walk-ins are $2.

http://www.southingtondrive-in.org/

[Hudsons81]

The only traditional one left in Metro Detroit is the Ford Drive-In. It's been around since the 1950's and has five screens and nightly double features. They used to have additional screens nearby, but those have since been torn down.

http://www.forddrivein.com/

There used to be five in the Downriver area of Metro Detroit.

• Michigan Drive-In, Southgate: operated from 1948 to 1984, torn down for the Southtowne Crossing Shopping Center in 1985, now a Walmart since 2011.
• Fort George Drive-In, Southgate: operated from 1950 to 1990, torn down in 1991, site is now a Meijer since 1994.
• Ecorse Drive-In, Taylor: opened in 1951, destroyed in the July 16, 1980 Green Storm, rebuilt then closed permanently in 1989, torn down for a strip mall that was previously anchored by a Farmer Jack and now only has a Secretary of State office as a major tenant.
• Jolly Roger Drive-In, Taylor: operated from 1954 to 1990, part of site now occupied by a charter school.
• Holiday Drive-In, Brownstown Township: operated from 1956 to 1986, Henry Ford Brownstown Health Center now occupies the site.

Drive-in theater numbers nationally decreased significantly during the 1980's as a result of increasing suburbanization, improvements at newer indoor theaters and increasing penetration of VHS, pay movie cable channels and video game consoles.

[TheFugitive]

I used to go to the Miracle Twin Drive-In just off I-69 in Burton, MI (a little bit east of Flint).
Was last there in 2004.  I am told it has since closed.   :'(

So has the Showcase Cinemas near that same exit for that matter.

[TheFugitive]

The Twin Hi-Way Drive-In in Robinson Township, west of Pittsburgh, has announced that
it is closing.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/one-of-pittsburgh-areas-last-drive-in-theaters-closes-its-doors/198712594

This leaves just one drive-in movie theater remaining in Allegheny County, a large urban county
that contains the City of Pittsburgh.

[retailisking]

It's behind the very successful indie multiplex Narrow Gauge Cinemas. It will open this summer.

[TheFugitive]

Interesting.  When was the last time a NEW drive-in opened for business?

My guess would be about ten years ago when the new owners of the Pontiac Silverdome
(which had been purchased out of bankruptcy for just $300,000!) converted some of their
massive parking lots to a drive-in theater in order to try and raise some revenue.

Alas, a storm would tear the fabric roof off the Silverdome, and the insurance company
delayed paying the claim.  The stadium began to deteriorate in the harsh Michigan winters
and was eventually torn down.  The drive-in is now gone too.

[BillyGr]

http://www.driveinmovie.com/ny/broadalbin/ozoner-29-drive-in/ was around the same time (2003) and built as a new location.

http://www.driveinmovie.com/ny/amenia/four-brothers-drive-in-theater/ - However, this one was apparently built in 2013, so that may be the newest one prior to the above.
Also interesting, since it's connected to a restaurant of the same name (which has about 10 locations in the area, mostly in Dutchess County NY, with a couple in Columbia (to the north) and one in Berkshire County MA to the east).

[Pikapower]

Drive-in movie theatres had it flaws like they can only movies on summer nights (weather permitting), but some drive-ins let you bring your own snacks since you're seeing the movie in your car.

Besides digital projections, what did "kill" the drive-in movies?

[TheFugitive]

One thing that killed them was the Energy Crisis of the 1970's.  The auto industry suddenly began producing smaller cars, which made for a much less comfortable trip to the drive-in.  Bringing the family to stretch out in a full-sized Buick was pleasant.  Cram them into a Datsun, not so much.

The proliferation of cable TV and premium movie channels like HBO likely also played a part.
You could see second-run movies from the comfort of your living room without the hassle
of going to the drive-in.  Movies on VHS started piling on a few years after that.

And Sociologists would argue the Sexual Revolution played a part.  Teens started finding
better options than going to the "Passion Pit" as they were called in my mom's day.

[JJBers]

There is a semi-notable one in Mansfield, Connecticut on CT 32. It holds a flea market every weekend in the winter. It also had a EF1 tornado hit it back in 2013.
There is also a abandoned drive-in theatre in Bolton, Connecticut on US 6/44. Also a tiny chunk of the sign for one in Foster, RI on US 6.

[Pikapower]

I have this idea for a drive-in themed movie theater where people sit in old cars from the 1950s and 1960s with speaker boxes (not functional) and has lighting in the auditoriums that look like a starry night sky.

[deerwrecker2017]

One thing that killed them was the Energy Crisis of the 1970's.  The auto industry suddenly began producing smaller cars, which made for a much less comfortable trip to the drive-in.  Bringing the family to stretch out in a full-sized Buick was pleasant.  Cram them into a Datsun, not so much.

The proliferation of cable TV and premium movie channels like HBO likely also played a part.
You could see second-run movies from the comfort of your living room without the hassle
of going to the drive-in.  Movies on VHS started piling on a few years after that.

And Sociologists would argue the Sexual Revolution played a part.  Teens started finding
better options than going to the "Passion Pit" as they were called in my mom's day.

Other major factors that also finished off the Drive-In Theaters over the years was the adoption of Daylight Savings Time and the Real Estate interest rate hikes (That caused the owners of so many Drive-In Theaters to decide that they could make more money by selling their property to developers).

Today a unknown number of additional Drive-In's (Mainly smaller rural ones) have since been shuttered due to the required cost of Digital Projectors that would have been needed for the Theaters to continue operation.

[JimSawhill]

I used to go to the East Hartford Drive In in South Windsor, the East Windsor Drive In in East Windsor and the Newington Drive In in Newington when I was growing up in Connecticut. All closed...

[BillyGr]

There are still quite a few in the greater Albany (NY) area that remain open, but they all tend to be in the more outlying areas (those that were closer to the cities have all closed over the years).

That makes sense, both since the land in those areas is less likely to be in demand (as there are plenty of other open pieces of land for development) and the theater competition is lower (as most of these areas aren't large enough to support traditional indoor theaters, so people in those areas have to travel to a bigger area for one, thus when the drive-ins are open they are a more convenient alternative).

[TheFugitive]

The Dependable Drive-In near the Pittsburgh Airport is the last
one left in this immediate area.

For a long stretch of its history The Dependable was known as the area
drive-in that ran adult movies.

No more, as the draw is now for families and nostalgia.

[retailisking]

The Bridgton Twin Drive-In in Bridgton, Maine is tentatively opening for the season on May 8th. With no new titles to show until July, they'll have to show old movies (including releases that came out over the winter) to tide themselves over. How many patrons will turn out?
https://www.facebook.com/110760448960435/photos/a.115765911793222/2417855734917550/?type=3&theater

[BillyGr]

The Bridgton Twin Drive-In in Bridgton, Maine is tentatively opening for the season on May 8th. With no new titles to show until July, they'll have to show old movies (including releases that came out over the winter) to tide themselves over. How many patrons will turn out?

Might turn out to be surprising higher than you'd think, just being something to do in the current situation. 

Probably even better if they are able to get any movies that were released just before the closings started, as many people may not have had the chance to see them in a theater before they were closed, and those more recent ones are not as likely to show up in other places.