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DEL.ICIO.USDrive-ins bring back wave of nostalgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
During a recent drive through Alabama I saw a drive-in theater and it started my thinking wheels in motion.
I remember as a kid going to one and thinking it was so much fun. Where else could you laugh as loud as you wanted and not bother anyone? Where else could you open up a bag without disturbing anyone with paper crinkling noise? So I did a little research this past weekend and put in drive-in theaters into Google and came up with an interesting site. Driveintheater.com is a giant listing, state by state of where some are still located.
And while, Georgia does have some, they’re just not close by. Some developer or investor could surely build something like that since we still have plenty of open spaces in Fayetteville and Fayette County. I know Peachtree City did it this past weekend where residents could bring their golf carts to the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center. And while it’s not the real deal it sure is close enough.
Why not bring back a little bit of nostalgia. I would welcome a drive-in movie theater, would you?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Abby Brunks
Comments
By Dixon
August 20, 2008 5:50 PM | Link to this
Do you remember the name of the Alabama drive-in? I live in Alabama and would love to know which one of our drive-ins you liked so much. I’m guessing maybe the 411 in Centre?
By wayne
August 21, 2008 7:19 AM | Link to this
this is to Abby Brunks..I have drive-in theater equipment and need your help in finding a location… e-mail me please at onentwoods2@aol.com…thanks….wayne
By Drive-in Fan
August 21, 2008 8:21 AM | Link to this
Fayetteville is 35 minutes from The SIX screen Starlight Drive-in in Atlanta. It would be a steep uphill battle to build a new drive-in that close to a mega complex, year round operation like the Starlight. Go to the drive-ins that are open now!
By Gary Goldberg
August 21, 2008 8:28 AM | Link to this
It would be wonderful to see a resurgence of the drive-ins not only for the nostalgia but also for the quality family entertainment and the meet-your-neighbors aspect of sitting out on the grass in front of your car in lawn chairs. If the reporter were seriously interested in seeing a return of drive-ins near major cities, he’d quickly find out that the major problem is finding affordable, properly zoned land close enough to the city — it was property values soaring that spelled doom for so many drive-ins over the years. The next problem would be having the $500K to $1mil needed to establish the drive-in. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but the business model in most locations of the country is a summer-only (at most six months), night-time operation where the drive-in owner makes their money only on the concessions, as the motion-picture companies take all the admission receipts. So it really has to be a labor of love from someone with enough working capital to start up and survive for a while, while getting established. There’s a community of drive-in enthusiasts online at “drive-ins” at Yahoo Groups if you find yourself obsessing over drive-ins like we do.