New Couple Keeps MO’s Phoenix Running

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The Houston (MO) Herald had a fine story yesterday about the relatively new management at the Phoenix Drive-In there. Josh and Jennifer Shelton acquired the place in June 2018, and they’ve got something to do every week because the Phoenix also has an indoor theater.

“It’s going well – it’s busy,” Josh said. “Jennifer always told people we love to watch movies, and that’s a lot easier when you own a theater.”

The single indoor screen holds about 190 patrons, and it’s available for rent for video game parties including wireless controls. The single outdoor field holds “close to 150 vehicles” and operates whenever weather permits, including weekends during this past holiday season.

The Phoenix opened as the Sunset in May 1951 with a capacity of 350 cars (if you believe the Theatre Catalog) or 150 (if you prefer the Motion Picture Almanac). Both sources say “H. E. Lay” ran it at the start, then “R. D. Fischer” (or Fisher) took over around 1955. By 1977, someone named Wyatt was in charge. And some time after the late 1980s, possibly when its screen was blown down and rebuilt, the drive-in was renamed the Phoenix.

The Herald article is accompanied by 11 fine photographs by its author, Doug Davison, who wrote a similar story in the Herald in 2011 about the Phoenix and its then-owner Samantha Thomas. (Even then, the drive-in had already “changed hands several times”.) If you want a happy story about a little drive-in that’s embraced by its community and run by enthusiastic caretakers, go read both articles!

 

Video: NM’s Fiesta Closing

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Carlsbad NM’s Fiesta Drive-In Theatre, which has three screens, digital projectors, and some wonderful neon signage, will reportedly closed for good after this weekend.

According to Cinema Treasures, the Fiesta opened with a single screen in 1948. (It’s listed in my 1949 Theatre Catalog that way.) It closed in 1970, but was completely rebuilt in 1989 as a three screen drive-in. According to KOB, Albuquerque’s News Leader, the Fiesta was reopened by Brad Light in 1990. He passed away in 2010 and the Fiesta went dark until his daughter, Sidney Light, reopened it again in 2012.

Sidney made the announcement on November 29th on the drive-in’s Facebook page. “It’s with great sadness that I regret to inform everyone that Fiesta Drive-In will be closing permanently after the movie showings on December 9th. I have already sold the place.” The post blamed declining audiences and a desire to move on.

It’s a small comfort that the drive-in gave locals a chance to experience it one last time, but it’s so sad that Light, who reopened in 2012 to keep her father’s legacy going and because she “knew it was a huge thing in this town,” apparently couldn’t find a buyer willing to keep the Fiesta running. Even though I got some nice photos on the place in 2013, I’m sad that I’ll never get a chance to watch a movie there.

Video: Wichita Rallies To Save Starlight

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The latest news from KSNW, Wichita’s News Leader, about the Starlite Drive-In Theatre there is that over 200 residents rallied at a nearby park to protest its shutdown. Last month, owner Chuck Bucinski abruptly closed for the season, announced that the drive-in would not reopen, and scheduled an equipment auction for Nov. 13.

The protesters were joined by Rick Cohen, owner of Lockport NY’s Transit Drive-In, occasional contributor to this blog, and generally nice guy. Cohen told KSNW, “There’s no other drive-in theater like this in the country, it’s just designed, engineered and built to the highest standards in the drive in industry.”

According to the Wichita Eagle, Cohen and Blake Smith, co-owner of the Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa OK, have extended a cash offer starting at $750,000 to purchase the Starlite from Bucinski and keep it running. They had been separately trying to buy the Starlite from longtime owner Jim Goble before he died of cancer in 2015.

I hadn’t mentioned that Eagle story or other followups because I’m just pessimistic about this whole situation. Bucinski has been quiet since making the closing announcements, and my guess is that his profitable sale of the Starlite’s land is already wrapped up. I don’t see any evidence that public protests are going to change his mind. I sincerely hope that I’m wrong.

At any rate, here’s one more chance to get a video glance at how the Starlite looks today. Just in case it’s our last look at a Wichita landmark.