Drive-in Theaters - Hot Summer Trend That's Anything but New

Summer blockbusters are cruising into theaters this month, but many moviegoers are cruising out of the cineplexes and into drive-ins.

The lowly drive-in theater, once thought to be relegated to the dust bin of nostalgia, is seeing a mini-resurgence as people tire of the pricey tickets, sticky floors and narrow seats of the traditional megaplex.

Baby boomers in cities from Wisconsin to Texas to California are opening new theaters and refurbishing old ones, while existing venues are seeing increased attendance as patrons band together to keep them alive.

"People seem to remember how much fun it was to go to a drive-in," Jennifer Sherer Janisch, co-creator of the web site drive-ins.com, recently told the The Ohio State University Lantern.

Drive-ins reached the peak of their popularity in 1958, with more than 4,000 theaters operating in the United States. The venues started struggling in the 1970s and 1980s, though, as land developers razed drive-ins to build strip malls and Walmarts, properties that tend to bring in more money.

Other developments - the spread of VCRs and DVD players, the advent of IMAX and 40-screen megaplexes, the increased popularity of the Internet and YouTube - also contributed to the drive-in's demise. There are now roughly 400 drive-ins nationwide.

But things are starting to look up.

Consumers looking to tighten their belts as gas prices skyrocket to $4 a gallon are turning to drive-ins. The economically-friendly venues often charge half the price of conventional theatres and can offer double or triple features.

Concessions, which can run from gourmet hot dogs to homemade chili, are also more affordable than the traditional $8 bag of popcorn and $6 box of Junior Mints at other theaters.

Drive-ins are attracting droves of families, too. Parents favor the summer staples because they tend to offer family-friendly fare as well as alternative activities, such as playgrounds, in case the kids get bored.

"It's altogether a more pleasing way to watch a movie," Fred Baum, the owner of the Holiday Auto Theater in Ohio told The Lantern.

But in the end, drive-in owners say, people - from twenty-somethings to grandparents to teenagers - are being drawn to the venues because they're looking for something different, even if it isn't altogether new.

"It's a cross between the fair, camping and the movies," Paul Javener, who is building a new drive-in in Wisconsin, recently told the Barron News-Shield. "There's something really different and unique about it."

SOURCES:

The Barron News-Shield, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1132
The L.A. Times, www.latimes.com/news
The Ohio State Univestiy Lantern, www.thelantern.com