Here’s more good news from the continuing saga of the Starlite Drive-In Theatre in Wichita KS. Owner Blake Smith, who also owns the Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa OK, received an extension on the loan that the city of Wichita gave him to buy the Starlite’s digital projectors. The full story is available, with a bit of video that I can’t embed here, at KWCH, Wichita’s News Leader.

The Starlite began its life as the single-screen Rainbow in 1953. The drive-in underwent extensive renovation in 1974, including a large new projection and concession building and a second screen, and became the Landmark Twin. In the intervening years, the name morphed into the Landmark Starlite and then to just the Starlite that it is today.

The struggles began in 2016. After longtime owner Jim Goble passed away, Chuck Bucinski bought the Starlite, but soon began saying the drive-in was in financial trouble. In the summer of 2018, he pursuaded Wichita to change the Starlite’s zoning to allow for industrial uses, “strictly for estate-planning purposes”, but announced its permanent closure in October that year. The community rallied, and Smith was able to buy the drive-in to keep it running.

The Starlite did well in 2019. Smith said he was considering selling season passes for 2020. Uh oh. The Covid pandemic tamped down the Starlite’s business that summer, and audiences have been slow to return in the years since.

Part of the package deal that Smith got in 2018 was a loan from the city to buy new digital projectors to replace the pair that were no longer there after Bucinski’s departure. That $200,000 was a heavy burden considering the covid-initiated drop in attendance. From KWCH’s report, the city council was delighted to help keep the Starlite open, extending the loan till 2031. It’s always nice when local officials recognize a drive-in’s value to the community.