Drive-in photo exhibit opening in Sioux City

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Drive-in screen photo by Michael Flecky, S.J.

photo by Michael Flecky, S.J.

“Sunset Drive-In,” an exhibition of 42 photos documenting the visual culture and architecture of drive-in movie theaters, opens Saturday at the Betty Strong Encounter Center in Sioux City IA. Admission is free, and the show runs through May 18.

The photographer is Michael Flecky, S.J., Professor of Photography in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at Creighton University. Flecky chose these photos from hundreds of images he has made over more than a quarter century. “Outdoor theaters are quickly becoming a thing of history and archaeology – unfortunately,” said the Council Bluffs native. “It’s a vanishing culture.” Sioux City’s last drive-in, the Highway 75, closed in 1988.

Flecky’s interest in drive-ins was sparked 27 years ago when he was photographing western Nebraska’s Sandhills with a large-format camera. He was attracted to the formal qualities of outdoor movie screens in the panoramic landscape, along with the shapes of grain silos and church steeples, recognizable from a distance on the rural horizon. The movie screens appeared like frames waiting for a picture, “a photographer’s dream,” he said.

Thanks to the Sioux City Journal for pointing out the opening of this exhibit. For more about Flecky and his drive-in photos, check out this August story in the Kearney (NE) Hub.

LA Times profiles Rubidoux’s digital conversion

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Rubidoux Drive-in screenThe Los Angeles Times ran a great story last weekend about the digital projection conversion and the problems it is giving drive-ins in general and the Rubidoux Drive-In (Riverside CA) in particular.

I don’t want to bury the lead, so the good news is that the Rubidoux plans to make the conversion. We also learn that the Cascade (West Chicago IL) will also convert despite the failure of its Kickstarter campaign. Writer Laura J. Nelson sets this positive news in a grim setting, that the switch will be difficult for more drive-ins and fatal to some.

Nelson gives the best description of the economics of digital projection, including Hollywood’s plan and the special problems posed by the drive-in projection booth. That’s just another part of a great, sweeping article that touches on the history of drive-ins, its recent casualties, and the appeal of seeing movies under the stars.

If you’re a drive-in fan at all, you’ve got to check out the full article with its 19 accompanying photos. It’s also got two great graphs using United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association data showing the rise and decline of drive-ins by year and the current drive-in population by state. Go read it!

What will happen to Cottage View’s sign?

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As mentioned earlier, there was a flurry of media activity when the Cottage View Drive-In (Cottage Grove MN) closed last fall, making way for a Walmart. A recent Minneapolis StarTribune story discusses the efforts underway to preserve its iconic sign, somewhere, somehow.

One thing seems to be sure – the sign won’t stay there. The site’s owner has offered the sign to the city, which is looking into options for preserving it. Cottage Grove mayor Myron Bailey said that he would like to see the sign included in the new development, but hasn’t had any formal talks yet.

“We would encourage the city to keep the sign as close to the original location as possible,” said Erin Hanafin Berg, field representative for the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota. Part of its historical significance is the context of its surroundings.

Personally, I hope they keep it like the Boulder CO Holiday drive-in sign, which stayed in place even as a housing development sprouted on its land. Worse would be like the Cinderella in Englewood CO; the condo development that replaced it changed the sign to promote the development. But anyway, go read the StarTribune story, which has more details and quotes about the Cottage View sign and who’s interested in it.