Mission Tiki finally closes

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2010 photo by Earl Leatherberry, from the Carload Flickr pool

Terrible news this week from California. The Mission Tiki Drive-In in Montclair finally succumbed to rising property values; it showed its final movies on Sunday, Jan. 22. The story came from David Allen, columnist at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, who offered an affectionate look at the drive-in’s final days.

In October 2019, the drive-in’s owner sold its land to a property developer. The 27 acres turned out to be worth $34.4 million. At the time, the owner announced that the Mission Tiki would stay open for most of the 2020 season until the buyer could get started building the industrial park he had his heart set on. Then the Covid pandemic changed timetables everywhere. After a short shutdown, the drive-in became a great source of socially distanced entertainment. Meanwhile, the buyer’s efforts to get started were slowed in regards to permitting and scheduling supplies and builders.

That all came to an end this month. Concerned about patron reaction, the Mission Tiki didn’t want to admit that it was closing soon, but the signs were there. One screen after another went dark, and the snack bar started running out of things. Alert customers noticed that the drive-in’s web site wasn’t listing movies after Sunday, and whispers went out about what would be its final night. A “a modest number of people” braved 40-degree temperatures to witness the end.

The Mission Tiki opened as the single-screen Mission Drive-In on May 29, 1956, back when the city was known as Monte Vista. They replaced the original screen with four new ones in 1975. The name changed to the Mission Tiki in 2006 during major refurbishing, including FM radio sound and Technalight projection system. The parking lot was repaved, the ticket booths were remodeled to look like tiki huts, a Maui statue garden was added, and the concession stand was remodeled to match the tiki theme. In 2013, all four screens were updated to digital projection.

I’m happy that patrons had an extended window to return to the Mission Tiki. Some developers in the same situation tear down everything immediately and let the land sit idle until they’re ready. It’s a darned shame to lose a profitable drive-in to just another industrial park, but at least this time we had an extra opportunity to make some memories first.

Video: PA’s Point to reopen for 2023

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Maybe it’s not perfect news, but it’s still good. David Renn, owner of the Point Drive-In in Northumberland PA, had said last year that 2022 would be the Point’s final season. Renn doesn’t own the drive-in’s land, and the landlord was planning to install a solar farm in place of the Point, which had just celebrated its 70th anniversary.

This week, several nearby news organization reported on Renn’s Facebook post in which he said that “the solar farm is no longer happening” and the Point will open again in 2023. I first noticed the story at NorthCentralPA.com, but I’m glad to include a video report from WNEP, Scranton’s News Leader.

What makes this news less than perfect is that the Point’s existence is still tenuous. Renn said he won’t be selling season passes, suggesting that the landowner could change his mind any time.

Any reprieve is worth something. Now the Point’s fans have at least one more opportunity to head over and experience a movie at this 70-year-old drive-in, carved from the woods overlooking the Susquehanna River. And if you can’t go, at least there’s a video to show you how it looks today.

New drive-in coming to Mississippi

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Since I don’t have any pictures of the construction site, here’s a photo of John Watzke’s current gig, the Ocala Drive-In, from its web site

Here’s some good news for the New Year. Veteran drive-in operator John Watzke, currently running the Ocala Drive-In in Florida, is building another ozoner west of Bay St. Louis MS. Work actually started a few months ago on the still-unnamed drive-in, but last week we were treated to a full story about the project and Watzke in the Mississippi Free Press.

In reverse of how this usually goes, the new drive-in is being built on the site of an old trailer park. The 10-acre plot has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and did what hurricanes do to trailer parks. (Seriously, living in a Gulf Coast mobile home seems to me like walking to work across a busy interstate highway. But I digress.)

Watzke said his drive-in should open by April 2023 with a 60×34-foot screen 45 feet up. If all goes well, he’ll add a second screen a few years later. The concession stand will include an arcade, and the menu will have such Ocala favorites as muffaletts and po-boys.

The article has much more, including plenty of Watzke-provided photos, history of his family’s involvement with theaters, and a mention of controlling fire ants. (And you thought mosquitoes were the most annoying insects.) So now you know you need to go read it!