Here’s yet another data point in a remarkable season of drive-in renewals. The Frenchtown Township MI planning commission has approved a special use permit and zoning adjustments to allow a developer to rebuild the Denniston Drive-In in Monroe. The next step is for the developer to submit a full site plan to the commission, according to the story in the Monroe News.
The article doesn’t mention his name, but according to Dean Cousino, the hardest-working man in Monroe, the developer is Todd Williams from Brownstown Township. Cousino told me that the full site plan won’t be included in the commission’s next meeting on Oct. 20, so we’ll have to wait to learn more about the project.
The Denniston was a huge single-screen drive-in that opened in the 1950s and closed in the 1980s, when a small two-screen indoor theater took its place there. That theater closed a few years ago. As you can see by the Google Earth View above, the lot is still remarkably clear.
According to the story in the News, the current plan is to face the screen to the east, opposite of original screen’s orientation. The site already has utility service, and the developer plans only a concession stand with restrooms. And a screen, of course. For more details, you really should go read it!