photo by Erica Minton, used by permission

Cincinnati CityBeat ran one of my favorite kind of drive-in stories yesterday. It’s a long description of how some outsiders purchased the Hamilton Auto Theatre just outside Hamilton OH in 2007 and brought it up to date while keeping as many nostalgic elements as they could. That updating passed a major milestone a couple of weeks ago when it upgraded to digital projection equipment.

The CityBeat article is a wonderful, long exploration into the story of former Disney theme park employees Todd Chancey and Mark Althoetmar, who visited the Hamilton during a roller-coaster tour and fell in love with it. “We started tying in drive-ins with our roller-coaster trips,” Althoetmar said. “We would ride coasters by day and take in drive-ins at night.”

Now the new owners painstakingly keep the place looking great. Chancey changes each little light bulb in the marquee sign and Althoetmar is trying to add more neon. The best part is that they understand why people go to the drive-in. “People will tell you they come here because they love that they can control their environment,” Chancey said. “They’re not stuck next to people like in a theater. They can sit in their car or outside their car.

There’s so much more in this article, including the odd saga of the abandoned buses. The only thing it’s missing are some good photos, but why quibble, just go read it!

Vindy.com, a service of the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator, has a fine article about the digital conversion plans of its two nearby drive-ins, the Elm Road and the Skyway, both of Warren. Both of them seem to have conversion in the bag because of their forethought.

Bob Hreno, who with his family owns the Elm Road, told the Vindicator that the three new projectors and the other changes needed to accommodate them cost a quarter-million dollars. No problem! “We’ve been saving money all along for it,” he said. “Digital has been around for 10 years, but they have only made projectors big enough for drive-ins for the past two years.”

Another interesting note: Hreno said that he’s keeping a 35mm projector next to the digital in each booth. That’s also thinking ahead; maybe he’ll need it to run something that’s only available on film.

Brian DeCiancio has owned the Skyway for about 12 years and purchased the nearby 6-screen indoor Encore Cinemas in November. As the Vindicator put it: “We planned ahead,” said DeCiancio, when asked about how he raised the money. “We get strong support at our concession stand. Plus having the six-screen indoor theater helps, because it’s a year-round business.”

Yet another point I hadn’t heard before, one part of the high cost of digital conversions is the need to theft-proof the projection booth. I guess that hard drives are more attractive than 60-pound reels of film. Anyway, the Vindy.com article even includes a nice daylight marquee photo of Elm Road, so check it out!

Cleveland.com reported that the Aut-O-Rama Drive-In (North Ridgeville OH) spent over $150,000 for two digital projectors and reopened for the 2013 season. The woman in charge, Deb Sherman, said “They just arrived, so that’s why we were able to set our opening date for (last) Friday.”

Sherman’s family has been running the Aut-O-Rama since they opened it in 1965. At first, it showed movies all year, but it shifted to the more traditional April-October drive-in schedule.

The good news is that the audience is growing again. “I’ve noticed a whole new audience coming lately,” Sherman said. “A lot of the baby boomers who went to the drive-ins when they were teenagers themselves are now coming back on a date night.”

Update: The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram also ran a nice article about the new digital projection system. It includes a few photos and more info about the 2013 season, so it’s also worth reading.

The Aut-O-Rama. Man, I love that name. Glad that one is in it for the long haul.