Light’s out for Visalia’s drive-in
Posted: 9/8/2006 5:29:38 PM
The Mooney Drive-In movie theater in Visalia showed its last double feature Thursday night.
The Mooney Drive-In opened its doors in the mid-1940s.
The manager says he's watched attendance drop sharply the past couple of years.
Drive-in theatres are dying breed of theaters in the United States with only a few hundred are still in operation nationwide.
The theater will have it official goodbye Saturday night. They plan on showing the movie ‘Grease’ on one screen and an Elvis Presley movie on the other.
So what happens to the theater after Saturday night?
The drive-in will eventually be torn down and the property developed into an office complex.
André in Zuid-Afrika
But... on the other hand... :D
Posted on Tue, Aug. 22, 2006email thisprint this
Drive-in theaters bounce back from brink
The Providence Journal
Here’s pleasant news for those in need of some warm and fuzzy nostalgia: The drive-in movie theater, that hokey creation of auto-loving America, is making a comeback.
In the 1950s, there were 4,000 of them in America. Today, there are only 420 – but that’s 20 more than last year.
According to the Reuters news service, people are coming back for the drive-in “experience.” That includes bringing in their favorite snacks and beverages, rather than paying a king’s ransom for what’s available at the standard theater; sitting under the stars in a lawn chair; or cuddling up with comfy pillows and blankets.
They can even hear the movie, if they want to – because their neighbors are some distance away. Young couples, meanwhile, traditionally found other things to do at drive-in movies.
Of course, economic pressures on drive-ins persist. The outdoor theaters are dependent on the weather, and the land they occupy can often be used more profitably some other way. So the comeback may be short-lived.
Still, aging Baby Boomers should take heart. Not everything from their youth has gone the way of the dodo.
Elaine
André in Zuid-Afrika wrote:
According to the Reuters news service, people are coming back for the drive-in “experience.” That includes bringing in their favorite snacks and beverages, rather than paying a king’s ransom for what’s available at the standard theater; sitting under the stars in a lawn chair; or cuddling up with comfy pillows and blankets.
That sounds lovely, but I hope nobody gets the bright idea to bring drive-ins back around here. We really don't need another place for these gangbangers and street punks to hang out and terrorize good people under cover of the night. :evil: The '50s are over and the culture around here has changed for the worse.
