- March 16th, 2008
- Filed under Local, Marketing, Public Programs
Scattered across the great Midwest exist outdoor novelties some of us are so lucky to grow up with. Opened in 1950, my hometown of Wabash County has the state’s largest single screen drive-in theater, playing double features each summer night, with 700 parking spaces, traditional speakers with FM radio feed and a retro concession building. My friends and I would borrow dad’s truck on a Saturday night, throw a bunch of sleeping bags in the bed and make a pizza stop before pulling into “13/24 Drive-in” just before dusk. 
Indiana is one of America’s top 10 drive-in states. There are 23 theaters currently in operation, according to DriveInMovie.com. There used to be five times that many until rising land values started shutting them down. But lately, it seems people have become tired of the pricey multiplex tickets and have decided to opt for a more affordable (and in my opinion more fun) route of heading out to experience the nostalgia of the drive-in. Tickets go for about $7 for adults and $4 for children.
With the comeback of drive-in theaters comes the idea of an indoor drive-in cinema. Check out Manhattan’s DRV-IN, at the performance venue Grand Opening, which features a movie screen hung in front of a single vintage Ford Falcon convertible. Groups of six can rent the one-car drive-in starting at $75 per screening, with a choice of films. A Carload at a Time may be in the pricey future.
The American icon lives on this summer at the IMA. Not exactly your middle of the cornfield drive-in, or the indoor “cars under the stars” walk-in cinema experience, but it captures some of the thrill of both.
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: Kicking off the Summer Nights film series at the IMA on June 6 will be Grease (PG 1978), directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Drive-in, walk-in or bike-in — I’ll see you there!
(Stay tuned to imamuseum.org for the full Summer Night’s film line-up.)
