Roadium Reopens After 30 Years As Flea Market

Roadium Drive-In marquee
Photo from the Roadium Facebook page

For the second consecutive summer, the vintage Roadium Drive-In is transforming from an open-air market back to a drive-in on Friday evenings. And for the first time, I noticed it, thanks to a helpful article in the Daily Breeze of Southern California.

The Roadium is a classic single-screen drive-in, opened in May 1949 at the beginning of the first ozoner wave. Housing was sparse in the region at the start, but as so often happened, neighborhoods grew and expanded to the drive-in’s borders by the early 1960s. The Roadium added a flea market years later, including a separate parking area by 1980. Soon enough, the drive-in stopped showing movies and the flea market stayed open every day. Thank goodness they never took down the screen.

Today it’s open again once a week for movies the way they used to be, with the bonus that once a month the In-N-Out food truck is also available there. Admission is just $20 per Carload, and $15 of that goes to charity. For more details, check out Eventbrite.

Video: SkyView Celebrates 70th Anniversary

KTVI, St. Louis’s News Leader, posted a nice little video today about the Skyview Drive-In across the border in Belleville IL.

The Skyview opened in 1949, and current owner Steve Bloomer has the newspaper clippings to prove it. KTVI’s video is mostly a walk with Bloomer as he shows off his framed photos and the Grand Opening advertisement as the drive-in celebrates its 70th anniversary.

I would have preferred more video of the drive-in and its equipment, but it was great to see some great old photos of the place and hear the stories behind them. And since I’m I sucker for any drive-in video that I can embed, I’m happy to share this one with you. Enjoy!

Video: Southington Sets 2019 Lineup

Here’s another drive-in story that never fails to bring a smile to my face: After the Southington Drive-In in Plantsville CT closed over a decade ago, local civic groups got together to revive it as a benefit for non-profit groups. This week, the drive-in committee announced its movie lineup for 2019, and the Meriden Record-Journal not only ran a nice story about it, they included a video.

Drive-in committee member and apparent spokesperson Dawn Miceli spoke with the Record-Journal about the success of the Southington project. Each week a different organization hosts the drive-in and received the proceeds it generates. Since the Southington was reopened, it has raised over $200,000 for those groups.

Last year the committee erected a new 22-foot tall entrance sign, a replica of the original 1955 sign. I can’t embed it here because it’s http (as opposed to Google-approved https), so be sure to go watch the video to see that sign as well as some fast photos of previous marquees. Enjoy!