Monroe MI approves drive-in plan

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Here’s yet another data point in a remarkable season of drive-in renewals. The Frenchtown Township MI planning commission has approved a special use permit and zoning adjustments to allow a developer to rebuild the Denniston Drive-In in Monroe. The next step is for the developer to submit a full site plan to the commission, according to the story in the Monroe News.

The article doesn’t mention his name, but according to Dean Cousino, the hardest-working man in Monroe, the developer is Todd Williams from Brownstown Township. Cousino told me that the full site plan won’t be included in the commission’s next meeting on Oct. 20, so we’ll have to wait to learn more about the project.

The Denniston was a huge single-screen drive-in that opened in the 1950s and closed in the 1980s, when a small two-screen indoor theater took its place there. That theater closed a few years ago. As you can see by the Google Earth View above, the lot is still remarkably clear.

According to the story in the News, the current plan is to face the screen to the east, opposite of original screen’s orientation. The site already has utility service, and the developer plans only a concession stand with restrooms. And a screen, of course. For more details, you really should go read it!

Minturn CO embraces its new drive-in

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Just this past Sunday, the Denver Post ran a nice little article describing the arrival and first season of the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In in Minturn CO. That makes me wonder how long the editors sat on this story, since the Blue Starlite’s last Minturn movie of the season was over six weeks ago. Maybe they were stumped about how a theater in a mountain valley small town could still call itself “urban”.

The Post tells the story of Josh Frank, who started the Blue Starlite on a shoestring in a 20-car lot in Austin TX and has grown the business to several locations across the country. His funky, eclectic vision of drive-ins was a perfect match for Minturn, a 1000-resident village with the words “funky” and “eclectic” in its mission statement.

In Minturn, Frank’s Blue Starlite sets up in the 40-car parking lot at Little Beach Park, which the village lets him use for free. Most weekend shows have been sellouts. At 7860 feet, this Blue Starlite is touted as the highest drive-in in the country. “This has been my favorite place to do this in six years,” Frank said.

There’s much more, including another Blue Starlite photo scraped from its web site. So go read it!

Drive-in loudspeakers annoy neighbors

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According to the Roanoke Times, the Starlite Drive-In of Christiansburg VA is running into problems with its neighbors. The problems started when it switched from in-car speakers and FM radios to a sound system at the concession stand.

By now, we know the problems with traditional drive-in movie audio. In-car speakers get snapped off when forgetful drivers leave. Radios can drain car batteries if the ignition key is set wrong. But with outdoor speakers, it’s hard to strike a balance that’s loud enough to hear but quiet enough to keep the neighbors happy.

It’s funny sometimes how technology can come full circle. When drive-ins first popped up in the 1930s, they used loudspeakers to play the sounds of each movie. Some used a single speaker; some scattered a few speakers on poles. There really weren’t any good alternatives until RCA invented individual car speakers, which weren’t deployed until after World War II. That technological advance was one of the sparks of the postwar drive-in theater boom.

Kerry Segrave wrote in his book Drive-In Theaters that loudspeakers were the greatest source of friction between early drive-ins and their neighbors. Several run-ins with the law are documented, including the 1935 arrest and conviction of a Los Angeles drive-in owner for violating a noise ordinance enacted with outdoor loudspeakers in mind.

The Times article didn’t mention whether Starlite owner Peggy Beasley and manager Brian Atkins were aware of that history, but they’re reliving part of it. Their neighbors complained, so Christiansburg Police Chief Mark Sisson dropped by to impose a volume level to line up with the town’s noise ordinance. That left the sound too low to hear some dialogue, Beasley said. “People who had been here couldn’t come back because they couldn’t hear the movie.” Business has been bad, so they’re asking the city to revisit the drive-in’s allowable volume.

No one asked me, but the obvious, tested solution is FM radio sound plus cheap rental radios. Till they figure that out, the Times has much, much more about the townspeople backing the Starlite and the neighbors who keep calling the police, so you should go read it!