Vue Dale Drive-in in Wenatchee closes

posted by CSWalczak on October 12, 2010 at 3:44 pm

WENATCHEE, WA — Sun Basin Theaters has permanently closed the twin Vue Dale Drive-in after fifty-seven years. The closing leaves only six remaining drive-ins in a state that once had over eighty. The property will be sold for redevelopment.

The two-screen, 650-car outdoor facility — a relic from the 1950s age of motoring — has become a victim of advancing technology, dramatic shifts in movie-going habits and rising property values, he said.

Closure of the drive-in also figures into Sun Basin’s plans for construction of a new 14-screen multiplex, the Gateway Cinema 14 in north Wenatchee’s Olds Station. Financing of the new $8 million multiplex could be partially funded by the eventual sale of the 11-acre Vue Dale property, although long-term plans call for use of the property by light industry or development of condos or apartments.

There is more in Wenatchee World.

Theaters in this post

• Vue Dale Drive-In