drive-in movie theaters may see new construction and upgrading

A drive-in theater based in Tiffin, Ohio that was originally built in 1949 may soon be seeing up to $200,000 in upgrades and improvements.

In Modesto, California, plans have been announced to bring up to date the Ceres Drive-In theater, which was first opened in the 1940s, but finally closed down at the onset of the Great Recession in 2008.

In Florida, the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival just opened a drive-in theater at the Pier 66 Hotel, overseeing Port Everglades.

New drive-in theater construction as well as the resurrection of existing drive-ins, according to analysts, have a distinctly 2020 feel.

The drive-in theater venue, notes USA Today, is enjoying a comeback “as a way to have an in-person viewing experience while adhering to social-distancing guidelines.”

Such theaters are largely a staple of the late 1940s and 50s when a post-World War II population explosion combined with a giant increase in car ownership.

Between 1947 and 1951 nearly 4,000 such theaters were built, a number that increased yearly into the mid-1960s.

Today, according to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association, based in Stephens City, Virginia, there are just over 200 such operating theaters in the country, comprising a total of nearly 550 screens.

While nearly a quarter of such theaters are located in the Midwest and California, states in the West have always enjoyed a thriving drive-in movie presence.

The drive-in owners association lists nearly 22 operating theaters today in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.

Industry analysts believe that the Covid-19 onset has made such entertainment offerings more appealing, with expectations that additional drive-in theaters will be either re-opened or newly built in the next year, once their commercial viability is demonstrated.   
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Work is expected to begin later this year on what is being described as the largest drive-in theater in the world. Hollywood filmmaker Spencer Folmar has announced plans to build a five-screen drive-in that will go up on just over 70 acres in Eustis, Florida.

By Garry Boulard

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