MagicValley.com reported that the drive-in’s fence was down and the screen would be dismantled around the end of the year. It was to become a storage facility. The article said that the Motor-Vu was built in 1947 and began operating in 1948.
This October, the site is transformed into “The Deserted Drive-In” for an interactive Zombie Resistance experience. http://www.basetactics.com/zombie-resistance-2018/
Also, based on an August 2018 Google Street View, the drive-in looks like it’s still in pretty good shape and is available for lease from HFL Corporation, 814-238-4000. https://goo.gl/maps/5vdicC6KBE72
There was a long retrospective article in the Reno Gazette Journal this month. Some highlights:
“Tony Pecetti, a bigger-than-life accordionist and entertainment entrepreneur in town, opened the El Rancho Drive-In on Aug. 19, 1950.” He died in 1969. “In 1973, the Syufy Enterprises, now run by brothers Ray and Joe Syufy of San Rafael, Calif., purchased the drive-in.”
In 1993, it was “scheduled to be torn down and turned into a flea market and indoor theater complex.” No mention of how the El Rancho dodged that one.
“The screens, varying in size, are steel and wood, never replaced since first installment, though three were add-ons through the years.”
It’s currently run by General Manager Diego Maldonado, who lives on-site with his family.
The Cecil Whig newspaper recently wrote a short retrospective. A couple of quotes:
Nathan Rosen had carefully located the new enterprise by finding a suitable tract, one large enough for 700 cars, on the new dual highway. The 15 acres were leased from the Society of the Divine Savior, a Catholic order popularly known as Salvatorians.
The lease was transferred to Reba and Muriel Schwartz in March 1960. The new owners were experienced motion picture operators … Local papers reported they were putting the Elk in first-class condition for the spring opening. The drive-in closed in the early 1980s, and in 1984 the property was sold.
Its Facebook page says it failed to open for the 2014 season. On April 7, 2014, they wrote, “We are sorry to say the Way-Bak-Wyn Drive-In will not be open in the summer of 2014. We will miss our wonderful customers. Thanks for all your support during our short run. The age of digital has come and we just can’t afford to upgrade our equipment.”
Google Earth shows the site overgrown with trees, but the screen and sign are both in there. Here’s a picture from March 2018: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29276830@N02/27505498688/
The Baytown Sun had a column about the Decker this week. It’s behind a (cough) paywall (cough, view page source).
Anyway, the opening date was given as March 29, 1949. The Decker covered 10 acres and had room for 575 cars, plus 50 seats near the 50-foot-wide screen. The second screen was added in “the mid 70’s”.
For more info, you might contact the column’s author, Russell Hamman, at his Facebook group Baytown History with a Twist.
As of a July 26 Facebook post, “The drive in is still up for grabs! Have had so many wonderful people interested, however for many different reasons it has fallen through.”
Sioux Falls historian Eric Renshaw wrote an extensive history of the “Star-Lite Drive-in” for the Sept. 14, 2018 Argus Leader. If that link is alive when you read this, you should check it out.
Otherwise, here are a few summary details from that article:
It was built by Joe Floyd and his company, Welworth Theatres. The work was done by Roy Runyeon.
The original 38 by 56-foot screen was "the largest theater screen in South Dakota" at the time.
Original capacity was 650 cars with expansion room for 200 more.
After the East Park Drive-In closed in 1978 (K-Mart), a second screen at the Star-Lite opened May 16, 1979. It featured radio sound.
The drive-in's final active night was July 5, 1985.
John Nathan Sawaya passed away on October 19 1987, at age 63. The Peak was still listed in the International Motion Picture Almanac’s final drive-in survey in early 1988. Based on Anthony L. Vazquez-Hernandez’s photo comment, that’s probably when the Peak closed permanently.
The Starlite was down to a single active screen by the time I (Carload.com) started running its movie listings in the late 1990s. It was definitely still alive in 2012, but had closed by 2015.
I don’t know jwmovies' source, but Historic Aerials' 1963-65 photos show a drive-in immediately east of Norwood on 145. It was just northeast of (across the highway from) where the Hitchin Post Cowboy Bar is now. That bar’s address is 41087 Grand Avenue.
Good eye, Kenmore! Historic Aerials shows that is the projection booth that’s still there. The screen was south of it, about where a cluster of buildings are now.
The Auto Vu wasn’t included in the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog, and its first appearance in the International Motion Picture Almanacs was the 1956 edition, so that’s a decent bet for the starting year. It was listed in their 1956-77 editions, (capacity 100 thru ‘76, then 200 in '77), but was gone by the 1978 edition.
Historic Aerials show the screen and parking rows in 1963, 1980, and 1993. Those farm buildings had replaced the screen by 2005.
The Hi-Way 40 was still on the Motion Picture Almanac’s final drive-in list in the 1988 edition, if that means anything. Historic Aerials make it very clear that it was 100% gone by 1990.
The International Motion Picture Almanac said in its 1978 edition that the “New Frontier” was run by E. Bohn, though Edwin Bohn’s obituary called it just the Frontier. Anyway, it fell off the IMPA drive-in list between the 1984 and 1986 editions, so that’s probably when it closed.
It’s weird – the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog lists the “South 21 D.I.” on Pineville Road, which was US Highway 21. Yet the 1956 Motion Picture Almanac didn’t show 21 South or South 21 anywhere in North Carolina, and neither did several other MPAs I spot-checked. (The 1955-56 Catalog also had the South 29, which the MPA listed through at least 1982, but that’s a different part of Charlotte.)
The 1966 edition of the International Motion Picture Almanac did not include the Queen. The 1969-76 editions listed it with a capacity of 1000. In the 1978 edition, its capacity was listed as 250, owned by Howell Thea. By the 1980 edition, it was gone.
HistoricAerials.com shows the Pineville Road site with a large drive-in in 1965 but not 1960, suggesting the Queen was built there in between those photos. Topo maps in 1970-78 but not 1965 also show the drive-in there. Its earliest photo was from 1960, and in a quick look along old US 21, I couldn’t find any obvious drive-ins.
Strangely enough, the Miracle was listed in the 1961-76 editions of the International Motion Picture Almanac as a drive-in theater. At least the IMPA got that 1500 capacity correct, even though it was seats, not cars.
There was a fire in the vacant (projection?) building according to a local news report on March 4, 2018. No one was injured.
The report mentioned an NPR story that said a church bought the place in 2008 and stayed there through 2014 and along the way “had unusual ceremonies where old x-rated movies were burned in a fire pit.”
The author of that article since told me that the Senator closed for good in 1986. She also said “early efforts to resurrect a theater didn’t go. Not deemed economical”. I still think it’s ripe for rebuilding, but what do I know?
The owner was active enough recently to turn down a request “to project a message of love on its tattered screen,” according to a Valentine’s Day 2018 article in the Albuquerque Journal.
MagicValley.com reported that the drive-in’s fence was down and the screen would be dismantled around the end of the year. It was to become a storage facility. The article said that the Motor-Vu was built in 1947 and began operating in 1948.
KEZJ reported that workers were demolishing the site in December 2018.
This October, the site is transformed into “The Deserted Drive-In” for an interactive Zombie Resistance experience. http://www.basetactics.com/zombie-resistance-2018/
Also, based on an August 2018 Google Street View, the drive-in looks like it’s still in pretty good shape and is available for lease from HFL Corporation, 814-238-4000. https://goo.gl/maps/5vdicC6KBE72
There was a long retrospective article in the Reno Gazette Journal this month. Some highlights:
“Tony Pecetti, a bigger-than-life accordionist and entertainment entrepreneur in town, opened the El Rancho Drive-In on Aug. 19, 1950.” He died in 1969. “In 1973, the Syufy Enterprises, now run by brothers Ray and Joe Syufy of San Rafael, Calif., purchased the drive-in.”
In 1993, it was “scheduled to be torn down and turned into a flea market and indoor theater complex.” No mention of how the El Rancho dodged that one.
“The screens, varying in size, are steel and wood, never replaced since first installment, though three were add-ons through the years.”
It’s currently run by General Manager Diego Maldonado, who lives on-site with his family.
The Cecil Whig newspaper recently wrote a short retrospective. A couple of quotes:
Nathan Rosen had carefully located the new enterprise by finding a suitable tract, one large enough for 700 cars, on the new dual highway. The 15 acres were leased from the Society of the Divine Savior, a Catholic order popularly known as Salvatorians.
The lease was transferred to Reba and Muriel Schwartz in March 1960. The new owners were experienced motion picture operators … Local papers reported they were putting the Elk in first-class condition for the spring opening. The drive-in closed in the early 1980s, and in 1984 the property was sold.
Its Facebook page says it failed to open for the 2014 season. On April 7, 2014, they wrote, “We are sorry to say the Way-Bak-Wyn Drive-In will not be open in the summer of 2014. We will miss our wonderful customers. Thanks for all your support during our short run. The age of digital has come and we just can’t afford to upgrade our equipment.”
Google Earth shows the site overgrown with trees, but the screen and sign are both in there. Here’s a picture from March 2018: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29276830@N02/27505498688/
The Baytown Sun had a column about the Decker this week. It’s behind a (cough) paywall (cough, view page source).
Anyway, the opening date was given as March 29, 1949. The Decker covered 10 acres and had room for 575 cars, plus 50 seats near the 50-foot-wide screen. The second screen was added in “the mid 70’s”.
For more info, you might contact the column’s author, Russell Hamman, at his Facebook group Baytown History with a Twist.
Thanks for the note, NealJ.
As of a July 26 Facebook post, “The drive in is still up for grabs! Have had so many wonderful people interested, however for many different reasons it has fallen through.”
An article which mentioned that the nearby Star-Lite added a second screen in 1979 said in passing that the East Park closed in 1978.
Sioux Falls historian Eric Renshaw wrote an extensive history of the “Star-Lite Drive-in” for the Sept. 14, 2018 Argus Leader. If that link is alive when you read this, you should check it out.
Otherwise, here are a few summary details from that article:
John Nathan Sawaya passed away on October 19 1987, at age 63. The Peak was still listed in the International Motion Picture Almanac’s final drive-in survey in early 1988. Based on Anthony L. Vazquez-Hernandez’s photo comment, that’s probably when the Peak closed permanently.
The Starlite was down to a single active screen by the time I (Carload.com) started running its movie listings in the late 1990s. It was definitely still alive in 2012, but had closed by 2015.
I don’t know jwmovies' source, but Historic Aerials' 1963-65 photos show a drive-in immediately east of Norwood on 145. It was just northeast of (across the highway from) where the Hitchin Post Cowboy Bar is now. That bar’s address is 41087 Grand Avenue.
Good eye, Kenmore! Historic Aerials shows that is the projection booth that’s still there. The screen was south of it, about where a cluster of buildings are now.
The Auto Vu wasn’t included in the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog, and its first appearance in the International Motion Picture Almanacs was the 1956 edition, so that’s a decent bet for the starting year. It was listed in their 1956-77 editions, (capacity 100 thru ‘76, then 200 in '77), but was gone by the 1978 edition.
Historic Aerials show the screen and parking rows in 1963, 1980, and 1993. Those farm buildings had replaced the screen by 2005.
The topo map at Historic Aerials still shows the Evans there in 1973, but gone in 1980, replaced by the strip-mall buildings that are still there.
Once again, the Motion Picture Almanac was a little slow in noticing that one of its drive-ins was gone. ;–)
The Hi-Way 40 was still on the Motion Picture Almanac’s final drive-in list in the 1988 edition, if that means anything. Historic Aerials make it very clear that it was 100% gone by 1990.
The International Motion Picture Almanac said in its 1978 edition that the “New Frontier” was run by E. Bohn, though Edwin Bohn’s obituary called it just the Frontier. Anyway, it fell off the IMPA drive-in list between the 1984 and 1986 editions, so that’s probably when it closed.
It’s weird – the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog lists the “South 21 D.I.” on Pineville Road, which was US Highway 21. Yet the 1956 Motion Picture Almanac didn’t show 21 South or South 21 anywhere in North Carolina, and neither did several other MPAs I spot-checked. (The 1955-56 Catalog also had the South 29, which the MPA listed through at least 1982, but that’s a different part of Charlotte.)
The 1966 edition of the International Motion Picture Almanac did not include the Queen. The 1969-76 editions listed it with a capacity of 1000. In the 1978 edition, its capacity was listed as 250, owned by Howell Thea. By the 1980 edition, it was gone.
HistoricAerials.com shows the Pineville Road site with a large drive-in in 1965 but not 1960, suggesting the Queen was built there in between those photos. Topo maps in 1970-78 but not 1965 also show the drive-in there. Its earliest photo was from 1960, and in a quick look along old US 21, I couldn’t find any obvious drive-ins.
Strangely enough, the Miracle was listed in the 1961-76 editions of the International Motion Picture Almanac as a drive-in theater. At least the IMPA got that 1500 capacity correct, even though it was seats, not cars.
There was a fire in the vacant (projection?) building according to a local news report on March 4, 2018. No one was injured.
The report mentioned an NPR story that said a church bought the place in 2008 and stayed there through 2014 and along the way “had unusual ceremonies where old x-rated movies were burned in a fire pit.”
Here’s an amazing 3D-modeled video tribute to the Monte Vista: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNwuDDbIy2E
It would have been a lot easier to restore if the VFW Hall hadn’t expanded into the old viewing field.
You can see the problem in drone footage from June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URvwIlHKsZc
whitley97, if you’re still interested five years later, Google’s June 2016 Street View showed a for sale sign by 4M Realty, phone number 210.342.4242.
The author of that article since told me that the Senator closed for good in 1986. She also said “early efforts to resurrect a theater didn’t go. Not deemed economical”. I still think it’s ripe for rebuilding, but what do I know?
The owner was active enough recently to turn down a request “to project a message of love on its tattered screen,” according to a Valentine’s Day 2018 article in the Albuquerque Journal.