Feb. 23: Tru Vu Drive In Theatre, Delta CO

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It’s Day 54 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. As I drove for five hours over snowy, often mountainous roads from one closed-for-the season drive-in to another, I really wished I had a better way of finding more open, warm-weather places to visit in February. As least I made it in one piece back to Colorado and the Tru Vu Drive In Theatre in Delta.

The Tru Vu opened in 1954 and has been rolling along ever since. For the first half of its life (so far), the Tru Vu shared Delta with the Skylite Drive-In which had opened almost literally across the street in 1949. By 1984, the Skylite had been renamed the Big Sky, and it closed soon afterward.

A lot of drive-in theaters have some drama associated with them. They add screens, they lose screens. They shut down for a while, and sometimes reopen. Not the Tru Vu. Delta locals are just proud to have it around.

My first visit to the Tru Vu was on Memorial Day Weekend 1998. The other drive-ins in western Colorado were all showing Titanic, most as a single feature. The Tru Vu’s marquee reached out to me with the promise of something different, the Matthew Broderick version of Godzilla. The drive-in complemented that movie very well, rewarding its broad action sequences and distracting viewers from its plot holes. Ah, memories of good times when it warm and dry. (Update: I drove past the Tru Vu for real on Memorial Day Weekend 2017. I’ve updated this post with the sharper photo I took.)

Miles Today / Total:  273 / 7049 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 37

Nearby Restaurant: Despite traveling for a month through the Southwest, I haven’t stopped at Mexican restaurants very often. I took a step toward fixing that at a little place called Fiesta Vallarta. The Super Burrito looked like enough to hold me all week, and the margaritas made me glad that I stayed somewhere within walking distance.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Quality Inn is the closest place to the Tru Vu and about a half-mile walk from the Fiesta Vallarta. It’s a little tired, but it’s clean and very inexpensive. I had a mini fridge in the room, a hot breakfast in the morning, and an adjacent grocery store across the parking lot.

Only in Delta: Delta is home to The Egyptian Theatre, operated by the same folks who run the Tru Vu. The 750-seat Egyptian Revival movie house opened in 1928 at the height of the fashion for thematically-designed cinemas. It was one of the first theaters during the Great Depression to hold “Bank Night,” a promotion where a random patron won $30. This pilot program worked so well that by 1936 the promotion was in use at 4000 cinemas in the United States.

Next Stop: The Star Drive-In Theatre, Montrose CO.

Feb. 22: Basin Drive In Theatre, Mount Pleasant UT

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Basin Drive-In sign by snow-covered ground

photo by Kenny from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 53 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It was time for another long haul, over five hours through frequently yucky weather from North Las Vegas to the Basin Drive In Theatre in Mount Pleasant UT. Sure glad I’ve got snow tires!

According to Cinema Treasures, the Basin opened in 1958 and upgraded to digital projection in 2013. It’s apparently the only movie theater that Mount Pleasant has ever known.

DriveInMovie.com tells a great story about the Basin. “The Basin Drive-in was originally located about 300 miles from here in the Uintah Basin of northeastern Utah. In 1958 it was purchased and then moved to its present location – and everything, from the projection booth equipment, to the old screen and the sign out front was carried over, including the old name.” I love that story, but no one ever says what city it came from. The farthest point in the Uinta Basin is barely 200 miles away. There are no drive-ins named Basin in Utah in the 1955 Theatre Catalog. Despite that, that same story was told by the Deseret News. “In the 1960s,” the News wrote, the owners “bought the Basin Drive-In, which was located in Uinta Basin, and moved it to Mt. Pleasant.”

The Basin folks were kind enough to fill this hole in my knowledge. “It came from the east side of Roosevelt,” they wrote, “(yes, they had two drive-ins in that little town!).” The other is the Echo Drive-In on the west side of town, which is still going strong.

Even as the theater was pelted by a mixture of rain and snow, the Basin Drive-In Facebook page reassured me that the place will reopen for another season this spring. When, exactly? “Usually the first week in April!”

Miles Today / Total:  354 / 6776 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 37

Nearby Restaurant: You’ll never guess what I had to eat at Cavalier Pizza, just two miles south of the Basin. Not the pizza, but the soup and salad bar. The unlimited soup, like meaty chili or their special chowder, was the secret quasi-healthy alternative I needed after going full carnivore the day before.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There are no hotels in Mount Pleasant, but since the Basin is on the north side of town, the best choice is probably the Skyline Motel in Fairview less than six miles away. Just a small sign, 10 units, and a large tree out front with picnic benches underneath. Then again, my room had wifi and a mini fridge. It worked, but the culture shock after staying in Las Vegas the night before was pretty extreme.

Only in Mount Pleasant: This small city is home to Wasatch Academy, an independent, coeducational, college preparatory boarding school for grades 8-12. It was founded in 1875 by a Presbyterian minister who had come to the mountains of central Utah to do missionary work among the Mormons.

Next Stop: Tru Vu Drive In Theatre, Delta CO.

KY Man Hopes to Revive Tri-City

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WFIE, Evansville IN’s News Leader, reported yesterday that the Tri-City Drive-In across the border near Beaver Dam KY might be showing movies again this summer. The Tri-City, a single-screen theater with room for 200 cars, opened in the mid-1950s and operated through the 2015 season.

Luke Burden bought the Tri-City and the indoor Mall Cinema in Hartford in March 2016, helped by a $50,000 loan from the Ohio County Economic Development Alliance. At the time, Burden said he would upgrade the indoor theater first, so I guess that makes it the Tri-City’s turn. Burden told WFIE he needs around $200,000 for all the work the site will need before it can open again. He even talked about building “the largest drive-in screen in the nation,” which gives me pause. Why would this cozy 200-car theater need such a huge screen? Was that bravado, naivete, or what?

Any talk of reviving a drive-in is good news, and any chance to embed a drive-in video is a good opportunity. From the apparent state of the concession stand and screen in the video, it’s remarkable how decent the place looked in this September 2015 Google Street View. I know that modern projection, bathroom, and kitchen equipment require serious cash, so I hope Mr. Burden installs all of that before he starts expanding the screen.