Fairlee Motel & Drive-In Theater
1809 US Route 5 North,
Fairlee,
VT
05045
1809 US Route 5 North,
Fairlee,
VT
05045
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Vermont doesn’t celebrate Columbus Day anymore. It’s now indigenous peoples day.
Closed in 1983 and reopened in 1988 per:
Aha! The August 2015 issue of Southwest: The Magazine says my guesses were on target.
“(Reginald) Drowns built the Holiday Park Drive-In in 1950, and renamed it the Hi Way 5 Motel and Drive-In when he added six motel units 10 years later. It was the first of its kind in the country.”
The article goes on to say that Reginald screened every film in advance, spliced out racy scenes, and rigged the sound to go silent on cuss words. Wife Terri ran the motel and wouldn’t rent to anyone who didn’t look married or who drank beer.
Also, the Hi Way 5 must have been closed in the mid-80s. “People still talk about the reopening weekend of 1987. A couple from Connecticut named Ray and Elaine Herb took a chance on reviving the motel and drive-in, which had fallen into neglect after being shuttered for a few years.” Peter and Erika Trapp bought the Fairlee in 2003.
Now there are three drive-in / motels, thanks to the addition of a motel at the Sunset in Colchester VT, but the Fairlee was the first. I don’t know of any drive-in / motel combination that ever closed; if you do, please add a comment.
It appears that the Fairlee opened as the Holiday Park, then changed to the Hi-Way 5 in the early 1960s. Maybe at the same time the motel went up?
The 1952 and 1955-56 Theatre Catalogs list only the Holiday Park for Fairlee, owner “Reginald Drown, and Daytz Th. Ent.”, capacity 200 vehicles.
The 1952-54 editions of the Motion Picture Almanac also list the Holiday Park for Fairlee, owner Daytz Thea. Ent. Corp., no capacity noted. Other editions:
1955: Holiday Park, R. E. Brown, no capacity.
1956-59: Holiday Park, R. E. Brown, 300.
1961-63: Holiday Park, Holiday Park, Inc., 300.
1966: Hi-Way 5, R. E. Drown, 400.
1969-76: Hi-Way 5, 400.
1982: Hi Way 5, Drown, 300.
1984-88: Hi Way 5, Drown, 1 screen.
They have a fundraiser in progress to convert to digital projection.