KTVI, St. Louis’s News Leader, posted a nice little video today about the Skyview Drive-In across the border in Belleville IL.
The Skyview opened in 1949, and current owner Steve Bloomer has the newspaper clippings to prove it. KTVI’s video is mostly a walk with Bloomer as he shows off his framed photos and the Grand Opening advertisement as the drive-in celebrates its 70th anniversary.
I would have preferred more video of the drive-in and its equipment, but it was great to see some great old photos of the place and hear the stories behind them. And since I’m I sucker for any drive-in video that I can embed, I’m happy to share this one with you. Enjoy!
This is so sad. I wrote that the Cascade Drive-In in West Chicago IL was in danger of closing because of its landowner’s desire to sell its space. Now drive-in owner Jeff Kohlberg has officially pulled the plug.
As the Daily Herald reported, Kohlberg wrote “Not often that you see a thriving business close. But it’s out of our hands.”
We can celebrate the decades of fun and entertainment that the Cascade gave countless drive-in patrons even as we know that everything changes. Here’s hoping that another new drive-in sprouts to take the Cascade’s place.
The Cascade Drive-in of West Chicago IL is in danger of being unable to open for the 2019 season because of its landowner’s renewed efforts to sell the parcel that includes the drive-in. That’s according to a story in the Daily Herald of suburban Chicago this week.
Like too many other drive-ins, the Cascade doesn’t own the land it’s on. It dodged a bullet in 2016 when West Chicago denied the landowner’s request to redevelop the site as a truck terminal facility. “The Cascade is one of the busiest movie theaters in the country,” owner Jeff Kohlberg told the Daily Herald that year. “It’s not like it’s a dilapidated drive-in.”
Despite the Cascade’s success, its active life may be over. In this week’s story, the Daily Herald wrote, “The Kuhn family owns the drive-in site and adjacent parcels totaling 53 acres, including a hot dog stand and the former headquarters of Harry Kuhn Construction. Stephen Kuhn said he has hired a new real estate broker to sell the site to a developer, ideally all in one piece.”
Kohlberg said he’s reached out to his landlord, offering to continue the previous terms of his lease, operating until an actual sale then vacating within so many days. But nobody has replied, leaving the Cascade’s owner uncertain whether to begin getting ready for his traditional opener in early April.
“I’m still holding out hope,” Kohlberg said. “If we don’t open in April, it looks like it’ll never open up at all.”
