Peoria drive-in gets zoning okay

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Downtown Peoria and I-74The odd saga of the Peoria IL drive-in that was set up in the parking lot of an indoor movie theater has taken another positive turn. CentralIllinoisProud.com reports that the Peoria Zoning Commission has approved a permit to allow the drive-in to take up permanent residence there.

The commission suggested that the site improve its landscaping and upgrade the parking lot, which seems pretty obvious to me. I also dug up this story, from the August 16 edition of the Peoria JournalStar, which explains what they’ve got in mind. Landmark Theaters general manager Zach Washburn said, “We want people to come up early, pull out their lawn chairs, throw the frisbee, bring their kids out and introduce them to something that across the country for years now has been dying.” I like the idea, but make sure those lawn chairs don’t take up an extra parking space, okay?

And I also found the JS article about the Landmark Drive-In’s opening day, complete with a few photos and a map showing where it is. Enjoy!

US 23 had fun, eventful summer

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neon sign from Flint Michigan museumThere are too many details and quotes and neat stuff about the US 23 Drive-In (Flint MI) from this Flint Journal article for me to summarize, so you ought to go read it. The 23’s general manager said the biggest draw of the summer was Ice Age 4, partly because it came out when he was running more than just weekends.

But don’t think the relentless need for improvement has overlooked the 23. They plan to add fountain soda machines, because customers have been asking for them. Yeah, I remember when the old Comanche (Buena Vista CO) was open, it just had a cooler full of soda cans. Not nearly as nice. Good luck, 23, and please get the kind of machine that dispenses crushed ice.

Ontario drive-ins are thriving after conversion

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Hamilton, OntarioThe Hamilton Spectator reports on the Starlite Drive-In (Hamilton ON) and other Ontario drive-ins that are doing great after pouring lots of cash into digital projection equipment. Brian Allen, head of the company that owns the Starlite and more Ontario drive-ins, says that 2012 has been one of their best years ever, and that business keeps improving every year.

“The demand for drive-ins never disappeared,” Allen said recently, “but supply has fallen off because of the demands of real estate.” Sounds like a formula for increasing the value of any drive-ins that stay alive.

If you want to see what a digital movie hard drive and its shipping container look like, check out the photos in the article. And if you ever visit Hamilton, be sure to take in a Tiger-Cats game.