WV’s Warner’s Almost As Good As New

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Warner’s Drive-In, which was rescued from oblivion by a local non-profit group in 2016, announced on its Facebook page last week that it was installing a new roof. It was another small step but a strong indication that the Historic Warner’s Drive-In & Cultural Resources Center is making sure that this Franklin WV institution will continue showing movies for years to come.

That story was nicely summarized in an article in The Inter-Mountain earlier this month. The cinderblock drive-in, built in 1952, was threatened by the need to convert to a digital projector. It stayed dark in 2015, but was saved by the creation of a community group to buy the property and renovate its old buildings.

“Getting good roofs, especially over the projection room, is a priority to protect our big investment,” said group coordinator Bob Davis. “Our screen is a building, very distinctive — but, has a roof that also needs replacement. So both buildings have leaks that we have to take care of right now. Our five-year plan has had to be put on hold while we handle the necessities.”

Since it’s that time of year, we’ll soon return to news of drive-ins that failed to answer the bell to open for Spring 2019. I thought we all needed a break, and this is a great way to celebrate a historic drive-in that was saved. There’s a lot more in that Inter-Mountain article, so you should go read it!

Santa Barbara Drive-In Abruptly Closes

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Colorful tractor-train carries kids through the parking lot

Free Movie Night festivities, from the Santa Barbara Drive-In Facebook page

Some drive-in closures tease out slowly, like the Cascade in West Chicago. Most are like a phone that stops ringing; you only know for sure when it doesn’t reopen the following spring. The Santa Barbara Drive-In in Goleta CA just gave us a rare form of sadness – the closure that’s a bolt from the blue.

As first reported in the Santa Barbara Independent, the drive-in announced on its Facebook page Friday, “Thank you for supporting the Santa Barbara Drive-In for the past nine years. We are now closed.”

This was a West Wind drive-in, one of several owned by Syufy Enterprises, and the announcement came just hours after it held its Free Movie Night, an annual company-wide tradition that primes the pump for summer viewing season. The Independent said that it couldn’t reach Syufy for comment on its sudden action. Indeed, as I type three days later, the Santa Barbara is still included on the West Wind web site.

When I stopped by for a virtual visit two years ago, I pointed out that the site doesn’t offer many other options. The Santa Barbara Airport immediately to the west probably prevents anything too tall from replacing the drive-in, and creeks to the east and west prevent encroachment from anything else.

I have no info yet on this event, but my interactions with Syufy have always shown it to be a class organization. I remember that years ago it regretted having to close a different drive-in because it couldn’t renew the lease with the landowner, and I can’t imagine any other reason for it to fold. I’ll update this post when I hear more.

Ciné-Parc Templeton Closes In Quebec

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The CBC reported this week of a closure with a possible silver lining in Quebec. The Templeton Drive-In Theatre, or Ciné-Parc Templeton, will not reopen this spring.

As I wrote during my virtual visit there in 2017, the Templeton had been open since 1974, always with the same owner, Paul Touchet. It was the only drive-in in North America, or probably anywhere, that showed movies in French and English, one screen each.

The good news, according to the CBC report, is that Touchet sold the Templeton’s equipment to the Belle Neige ski resort in Val-Morin, northwest of Montreal, and the resort plans to open its own drive-in later this spring. As always, I hope for the best.