Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Drive-ins continue to survive

Family atmosphere, nostalgia help keep entertainment option open

Carloads of moviegoers wait in line Saturday at the Las Vegas Drive-Ins, 4150 W. Carey Ave., the last local theater of its kind. Photo by Christine H. Wetzel. Click image for enlargement.

BROOKLYN, Ohio -- On a recent summer night when the sun set late, no one seemed to mind that the Memphis Drive-In wasn't starting "The Hulk" until 40 minutes after its 9 p.m. showtime.

As the projectionist waited for the sky to turn down the house lights, children squealed on swings in front of a 100-by-65-foot screen. Adults set up folding chairs in front of their minivans while a hypnotic voice from an old-time radio commercial droned over the drive-in speakers, "Enjoy a refreshing, ice-cold Coca-Cola."

No one paid attention to the time, which has a way of standing still at the drive-in.

Born in the 1930s from America's love of film and automobiles, drive-ins have survived despite 24-screen multiplexes, digital surround sound, reclining high-backed chairs and stadium seating.

They have done so by providing affordable double features, a family friendly atmosphere and a little nostalgia.

"It's just a very convenient and kind of magical place -- the stars twinkling at night," said Randy Loy, co-executive director of the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association. "It's freedom more than anything."

Though several Las Vegas-area drive-ins shut down in the '80s, locals with outdoor viewing cravings still find satisfaction at the Las Vegas Drive-Ins, the last local theater of its kind. Located just north of the Fiesta Rancho at 4150 W. Carey Ave., the site still remains popular among area moviegoers, said Nancy Klasky, spokeswoman for owner Century Theatres of San Rafael, Calif.

"A lot of people are big fans of drive-ins," Klasky said. "And as long as people continue to come in, we'll keep it open."

Century Theatres' sister company, Syufy Drive-Ins, opened the Las Vegas Drive-Ins in 1966 with just one screen. Expansions in 1971, 1974 and 1992 gave the drive-in its current six-screen alignment, Klasky said.

Though the project was been rumored for demolition on several occasions, it's so far outlived its bygone local competitors. The Skyway Drive-In at 4035 Boulder Highway near Lamb Boulevard closed in 1981, while Syufy's own Desert 5 Drive-In was shut down in the late 1980s to make room for the now-defunct Century Desert 12 (later expanded to 16 screens), a traditional indoor theater.

Other former local drive-ins include the Sunset, which was near Rancho Drive and Cheyenne Avenue, and the Nevada, which had operated at 3873 Las Vegas Boulevard North.

The number of drive-ins peaked in 1958 at 4,063, according to the Germantown, Md.-based owners' group, which has 145 member theaters in the United States and Canada.

As the movie industry struggled in the 1950s, mostly because of the popularization of television, Hollywood marketed heavily toward teenagers, who liked the privacy of the drive-in and the chance to show off their cars.

Today, there are 433 left in the United States. Ohio and Pennsylvania have 37 each, the most of any state. New Jersey, where the first drive-in was built in 1933, doesn't have any left, according to the drive-in association.

Loy said the industry is on an upswing. About 40 drive-ins have reopened and 20 new ones have been built since 1990, though Klasky said it's too soon to speculate whether Century could add to its roster of seven drive-ins in Arizona, California and Nevada.

Gaming Wire writer Chris Jones contributed to this report.