Calvert DI reopens for 60th season

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The screen at the Calvert Drive-In

photo by Bill Eichelberger, used by permission

The Murray State News recently gave us a quiet portrait of John Harrington, the manager of the Calvert Drive-In in Calvert City KY. Sometimes history is the sum of individual experiences, and reading what Harrington had to say about the Calvert can add to our understanding of what things were like in the early days.

Harrington’s grandparents built the Calvert, and four generations of his family have worked there. Recent improvements they’ve made to the place include a new screen (in 2003), a better concession area (2007), and now digital projection.

The part of the article that I liked best was the date Harrington picked as perhaps the beginning of the end of drive-in mania. It wasn’t what I would have guessed.

“1958 was a hard year for drive-ins,” Harrington said. “… In the late ‘50s/early ‘60s when TVs really started becoming popular, people could stay at home and catch up on the news. Back in the ‘30s and ‘40s, people would go to the theaters to see what was going on in the war, and there were a lot of newsreels.” That’s a part of the TV experience I hadn’t considered, that it broke a habit of going to the movies to see what’s news. Thanks to the Murray State News for giving us that look back.

Glendale 9 is Drive-In Heaven

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Well, this is good timing. Just as I was getting ready to tell you exactly how the Glendale (AZ) 9 Drive-In is Drive-In Heaven, the Arizona Republic sort of beat me to it. This will go better if you go read the article now, then come back and let me add what I saw.

Did you read it? Great. Now let me tell you some more about the place. The article says that the Glendale 9 was built in 1979, which would make it one of the world’s most modern drive-ins. Unlike most multi-screen drive-ins, the Glendale was designed from the start for this many screens; its central projector room services all of them.

That central projector room sits atop a central snack bar and arcade, all unusually spacious for a drive-in theater. Nearby there’s a playground, plenty of benches, and a beer cart. Woohoo! Another unusual feature is a row of roofs to shade a back row of cars. This is suburban Phoenix, and that’s got to come in handy during all those triple-digit summer days.

How about that landscaping? Everywhere I turned, I saw palm trees and flowering bushes (or are those trees) along the edges. The snack bar island had more little flowering bushes. Again, this is in the desert, so maintaining such touches can’t be easy, but they illustrate a commitment to provide a great customer experience.

I can’t speak to how busy the Glendale tends to be, since I was there on a Thursday night and left before it got dark, but I did get to see the nine freshly installed digital projectors ready to work. Considering the many estimates for how much one of those babies costs, the West Wind folks who own the Glendale probably had to lay out around a half million dollars, even if they got a quantity price break. The Glendale must be doing very good business to justify that vote of confidence.

The assistant manager told me the sad tale of the nearby Scottsdale 6, which West Wind ran until September 2011, when it couldn’t renew its lease. Unlike that case, West Wind owns the Glendale’s land, and it sure sounds like it’s going to be around for a long time. Thank goodness. I’d hate to lose my Drive-In Heaven.

GlendaleTwilight

SD drive-in picks up first-run movies

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Mini-golf at the Starlite Drive-InThe Daily Republic of Mitchell SD recently gave us a brief glimpse of the Starlite Drive-In there. While a lot of theaters are worrying about switching to digital projection, the Starlite is looking forward to a different kind of upgrade – first-run movies.

“This will give moviegoers a chance to see new movies immediately,” said a news release from Logan Luxury Theatres, which owns the Starlite.

Some of the other improvements sound like fun. According to The Daily Republic, “The Starlite is working with Mitchell Technical Institute chef instructor Josh Kranz to add new, unique items to the snack bar menu.” They’re also rebuilding the 18-hole mini-golf course. Between that and the playground, the Starlite is giving me lots of reasons to arrive early. Check out its Facebook page for more photos of what it’s got to offer.