Category Archives: Kentucky

27 Twin won’t reopen

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Photo from the 27 Twin Drive-In Facebook page

Somerset KY’s 27 Twin Drive-In, open since 1967, won’t reopen for the 2022 season. That was announced on its Facebook page and relayed by WKYT, Lexington’s News Leader.

Owner Brenda Roaden wrote that “the combination of many factors has damaged the viability of the operation.” I don’t know what that means. Could it be that attendance had dropped off?

WKYT reported that Roaden will continue to maintain the grounds, which might lead one to hope that someone new could swoop in to buy the place and get it running again. One Facebook commenter said he expects it to become “a subdivision or strip mall”.

The 27 opened in 1967 with one screen, then added a second in 1980. Let’s hope those screens stay standing, and that someone arrives to light them up again.

Video: Sauerbeck Announces Screen Rebuilding

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Here’s a short post about (and including) a short video. According to WHAS, Louisville KY’s News Leader, the Sauerbeck Family Drive-In in La Grange plans to rebuild the screen that blew down last month, just weeks after the place opened. You’ll also want to watch it for the drone footage of the collapse.

According to a post on the drive-in’s Facebook page, the new screen structure “has been redesigned from the ground up”. That sounds important, because reports suggest that the screen-killing storm wasn’t all that severe. Another advantage of the new screen, according to that post is that it “will have a new ‘face’ that will provide much better picture clarity.”

The Sauerbeck web site still says that the drive-in will be closed until further notice, but the Facebook post sounds more hopeful. It says they’ll reopen “as soon as possible” and mentions hope for a warm Thanksgiving. I’m hoping that however long it takes, the new screen will be built to last for years instead of weeks.

Video: Wind Knocks Down Weeks-Old KY Screen

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The Good News: The Sauerbeck Family Drive-In opened this August in La Grange KY.

The Bad News: Less than a month later, a windstorm blew down the Sauerbeck’s screen. The story was in the Louisville Courier Journal, which also supplied the embedded video above.

WDRB, Louisville’s News Leader, reported this week that the Sauerbeck was working with its insurer to rebuild the screen “but it could be ‘several more weeks’ before that happens.” They say they might try a temporary screen, but my guess is that the real answer is just to get a new screen up for Spring 2019. In October, high temperatures around there are only in the 60s, and it only gets cooler the rest of the year.

Until the drive-in reopens, at least we have a nice video slice of what the Sauerbeck looked like on Opening Day. Here’s hoping for much more of that next season!