Revamped Mission sits, waiting

Posted on by

I was in San Antonio TX last week for reasons that, for a change, weren’t very much about drive-in movie theaters. But of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to revisit the locale that essentially inspired the creation of this web site. Plus, I got tired of grabbing other folks’ photos of the place.

The site of the old Mission Drive-In Theatre is in a depressed neighborhood in the middle of the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. I never saw its sign look as good as it looked last week, with bright colors and faux neon lights on the lettering.

The drive-in screen on the other side was also restored to its original appearance, a framed white screen with two long arms at its base extending to the sides of the viewing area. Where the projection stand used to be, there was a fresh little building with rest rooms and storage. But it was all fenced off, quietly resting in the warm Texas sun. The drive-in site was meant to be seen, not enjoyed, at least not that day.

I had been encouraged by reports of a new library on the site, and there it was. When I went in, I looked for anything that celebrated the history of the Mission, but there was nothing. I asked the guy behind the counter whether there were any movies or activities planned, he shook his head and said, “We don’t have anything to do with that.” Then he reached into his drawer and handed me a pre-cut scrap of paper with the phone number and web address of the city agency in charge. Not only was he indifferent to the drive-in next door, his indifference was premeditated.

Its nice that this touchstone of drive-in history has been restored to remind us all what it was like. Let’s hope that someone in San Antonio does something with it now.

Boulevard marks 60th year of movies

Posted on by
Boulevard screen at dusk with vapor trails

photo by Terry Shuck, used by permission

KCTV, Kansas City MO’s news leader, ran a loving tribute to the Boulevard Drive-In, across the border in Kansas City KS. The occasion was the presentation of a plaque commemorating the Boulevard’s 60th year; it opened in 1954.

A particularly interesting sidenote is that, according to the article, Kansas City “is the only city in the country to have three” living drive-in theaters. Actually, that author must be referring to the metro area, since the Twin (Independence MO) and the I-70 (Kansas City MO) are really in different cities. That triggers all sort of memories for me, since that’s the metro area where I was born and raised. I’ve attended all three of these, and I also remember some drive-ins that are long gone, sitting in the back of a borrowed van at the 63rd Street, seeing Blazing Saddles at the Leawood, and watching Star Trek 5 with my dear wife at the State. I wonder what has made the KC area such fertile ground for drive-ins. My guess would be that land prices haven’t skyrocketed the way they have elsewhere.

Oh yes, back to the KCTV article. It includes a bounty of quotes from Wes Neal, a part of the Boulevard since 1954. For example, one of the Boulevard’s distinguishing characteristics is that it kept its speakers even as many drive-ins have gone FM-only. “We want to keep it like the original drive-in, and we keep every one of the speakers working perfectly all the time, so every week we have to check every speaker and repair them as necessary,” he said.

The article also points out another distinguishing point – the Boulevard was the first drive-in to go digital, early in 2012. I saw Men In Black 3 there during a visit last year, and it looked great. But maybe I should stop rambling about my Kansas City drive-in roots and just let you go read it!

Hamilton Auto Theatre keeps improving

Posted on by
Ticket booth at the Holiday Auto Theatre

photo by Erica Minton, used by permission

Cincinnati CityBeat ran one of my favorite kind of drive-in stories yesterday. It’s a long description of how some outsiders purchased the Hamilton Auto Theatre just outside Hamilton OH in 2007 and brought it up to date while keeping as many nostalgic elements as they could. That updating passed a major milestone a couple of weeks ago when it upgraded to digital projection equipment.

The CityBeat article is a wonderful, long exploration into the story of former Disney theme park employees Todd Chancey and Mark Althoetmar, who visited the Hamilton during a roller-coaster tour and fell in love with it. “We started tying in drive-ins with our roller-coaster trips,” Althoetmar said. “We would ride coasters by day and take in drive-ins at night.”

Now the new owners painstakingly keep the place looking great. Chancey changes each little light bulb in the marquee sign and Althoetmar is trying to add more neon. The best part is that they understand why people go to the drive-in. “People will tell you they come here because they love that they can control their environment,” Chancey said. “They’re not stuck next to people like in a theater. They can sit in their car or outside their car.

There’s so much more in this article, including the odd saga of the abandoned buses. The only thing it’s missing are some good photos, but why quibble, just go read it!