Video: Rose City to reopen

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I’m happy to have some really good news to report. Local entrepreneur Paul Cole is pouring half a million dollars to renovate and reopen a prized drive-in of his youth – the Rose City in Newark NY. The story came to us first from the Finger Lake Times, and WROC, Rochester’s News Leader, followed up with the YouTube video you hopefully see above.

“I remember coming here as a kid,” Cole told the Times. “They used to have a playground in the back. We were here the night my mother broke water with my brother. That was 1975.” The Rose City stayed alive for another decade, closing after the 1985 season. (Not 1981, as the Times erroneously wrote.)

Cole purchased the property this year from the estate of the late Eugene Colacino. The original screen, 100×45 feet, is still standing after decades of overlooking Highway 31. Recent aerial photos suggest that the original ramps are still in place. But the screen needs some cleanup, and for the concession-projection building, Cole is pretty much starting from scratch.

WROC said that Cole plans to have a soft launch in the fall, with an official opening following next April. (That sounds like what the reborn Tee Pee Drive-In of Sapulpa OK did last fall and this spring.) It’s great to see another classic drive-in getting restored to a modern version of its former glory.

Santee Drive-In reportedly sold to developers

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Santee Drive-In sign
Photo by “Chris1982” via CinemaTreasures.

Which is better? To have a drive-in suddenly close, as Mitchell SD’s Starlite did this week? Or to know that a local drive-in is on borrowed time, giving patrons an opportunity to pay their respects? Given that unhappy choice, I’d pick the latter, so that’s a small bit of comfort that comes with today’s news that the Santee Drive-In Theatre is in escrow to a company that erects large industrial buildings.

The East County Magazine reported today that the Santee is in escrow to North Palisades Partners from Los Angeles. A city official said that North Palisades has filed for approval to build a 291,000-square foot edifice on the site, and that the approval process would take “at least six months.”

What of the Santee’s current, or is that previous owners? On its web site and Facebook page, the drive-in is still promoting movies, selling merchandise, and hosting a popular swap meet, all with no mention that 2023 might be its final season. The magazine article said that requests for comment went unanswered, and the city official said that the owners “don’t want to answer questions about the closing.”

So there you have it. If you live anywhere near the Santee, this might be your chance for one last visit. It’s sad to see venerable drive-ins close just for redevelopment, but it least we got a bit of warning this time.

Update: Somebody, maybe the owners, has been adamant in stressing that the Santee hasn’t been actually sold yet; it’s still in escrow. Which is a necessary step that one normally undertakes only with the goal of selling, but yeah, that’s true.

Mitchell SD’s Starlite won’t reopen

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Starlite Drive-In theater sign
Photo by Granola via Cinema Treasures.

Skipping over the many happy, mundane stories about drive-ins reopening for another season leaves me with the unhappy ones. This one from Mitchell’s Daily Republic, via Yahoo News, is quite sad. In 2020, the Starlite Drive-In Theatre there was a great example of a pandemic-based revival when owner Logan Luxury Theatres reopened it. Now the Starlite’s Facebook page tells the story, “It’s been a great run but all good things must come to an end.”

After a year of patronage that “came close to attendance levels in the 1970’s when drive-ins were at their peak,” business had faded for two years. That was the reason Logan gave for its decision not to reopen the Starlite this year. The post invited readers to visit “the Luxury 5 Cinemas downtown.” If I were cynical, I’d guess that once the indoor theaters were allowed to reopen, management saw the drive-in as unwanted competition.

The Starlite had closed in 2013, the year several drive-ins closed because of Hollywood’s change to digital projection. I’m glad that the folks in Mitchell were able to have an encore these past three years. Who knows, maybe enough of them will ask to bring the Starlite back to life one of these days.