KHQA, the Tri-States’ News Leader, reports that the Clark 54 Drive-In of Summer Hill IL is for sale, and the official Clark 54 web site confirms it. According to KHQA, owner Mike Glass isn’t selling because of the looming conversion to digital projection or a lack of business, but “for … Continue reading
Category Archives: Illinois
Harvest Moon reaches its fundraising goal
The Paxton (IL) Record reports that the Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In (Gibson City) reached its fundraising goal of $165,000 and will reopen for a new season on March 29. We’ve been following this saga on Carload here and here. Manager Ben Harroun said that he’s waiting to hear from his supplier to … Continue reading
LA Times profiles Rubidoux’s digital conversion
The Los Angeles Times ran a great story last weekend about the digital projection conversion and the problems it is giving drive-ins in general and the Rubidoux Drive-In (Riverside CA) in particular. I don’t want to bury the lead, so the good news is that the Rubidoux plans to make … Continue reading
Harvest Moon enters final fundraising push
There’s a short video update on the Harvest Moon Drive-In (Gibson City IL), previously chronicled here. WMBD, central Illinois’ new leader, said a couple of weeks ago that the Harvest Moon’s fundraiser has “been successful so far” but needs another $14,000 by the middle of February. When what happens, exactly? I … Continue reading
Cascade also turned to Kickstarter
From the St. Charles (IL) Patch comes word that the Cascade Drive-In (West Chicago) tried a Kickstarter campaign to help finance its conversion to digital projection. That seems to be the Illinois thing to do, as shown by the Midway (Palmyra), the Harvest Moon (Gibson City) and the McHenry Outdoor Theater … Continue reading
Peoria drive-in gets zoning okay
The odd saga of the Peoria IL drive-in that was set up in the parking lot of an indoor movie theater has taken another positive turn. CentralIllinoisProud.com reports that the Peoria Zoning Commission has approved a permit to allow the drive-in to take up permanent residence there. The commission suggested … Continue reading
Yet another Illinois drive-in turns to Kickstarter
There must be something in the water in Illinois. In addition to the Midway (Palmyra IL) and Harvest Moon (Gibson City IL) which we discussed so recently, now comes word that the McHenry Outdoor Theater (McHenry IL) is trying to raise money through Kickstarter for digital projection equipment. The good … Continue reading
More Illinois theaters turn to Kickstarter
From The News-Gazette of central Illinois comes word that two other Illinois theaters have also turned to Kickstarter to try to raise money for the digital conversion. In addition to the Midway, which we covered a few days ago, the Harvest Moon (Gibson City IL) and the indoor Onarga Theater (Onarga … Continue reading
Midway using Kickstarter to go digital
The Midway Drive-In (Palmyra IL) is facing the modern problem of needing to buy a digital projector. It’s attempting to solve it with a modern solution: a Kickstarter project. Folks who pledge the right amount of cash will receive rewards such as popcorn and pop (we call it “soda” around … Continue reading
Peoria testing drive-in on indoor theater parking lot
I don’t know what’s going on at the Landmark Cinemas in Peoria IL, but the general manager of the Landmark Recreation Center is testing a drive-in theater on an apparently flat concrete parking lot there. According to the Peoria Journal Star, they tried it for 10 days, discovered that Mondays … Continue reading