Drive-in to Return to O.C.(Great News for Southern CA.)

Orange County Register ^ | JEFF OVERLEY

[kellynla]

COSTA MESA - Throw your buddies in the trunk and break out the Milk Duds – the drive-in movie theater, not seen in Orange County for a decade, is coming back.

The Star-Vu Drive-In, conceived by four entrepreneurs with a soft spot for outdoor movie-going, is set to open in May at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

"All four of the people who are doing this are baby boomers, like me, who enjoyed drive-ins growing up," said Jill Lloyd, spokeswoman for Orange County Drive-In LLC, the company behind the endeavor.

Reflecting a nationwide trend, local drive-ins bit the dust in droves during recent decades, giving way variously to Wal-Marts, shopping centers and apartments.

At least 11 "ozoners," as aficionados lovingly call drive-ins, were built in Orange County beginning in 1941, later caving as real estate values soared. The last of the lot, Westminster's Highway 39 Drive-In, closed in 1997.

The medium's golden age was the late 1950s, when more than 4,000 drive-ins operated nationwide, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association. Now, fewer than 400 exist.

[Savage Beast]

Janet's not the only one. I still get the creeps when I'm taking a shower in a motel.

[Savage Beast]

Then there was the time that Richard and I hid in the trunk while our dates drove in. (The girl I had a date with is now my wife of many years and the mother of my children.) One of them knew how to steer. The other one knew how to change gears. So they were practically sitting in each other's lap as they drove in with Richard and me in the trunk. The woman selling tickets must have known what was going on. I think the girls were giggling as they bought the tickets. I could hear the conversation from the trunk.

Richard was one of my best friends, but he was a year and a half older than me, played football, was much bigger than me. That's why it scared hell out of me when he shouted and lunged...there in the creepy, chilly night...with Donovan's Brain pulsating and about to do Nancy Reagan in...!

It's a wonder that I didn't grow up wierder than I did.

[sticker]

My favorite was Warner Park in West Nashville, the back rows were terraced and often someone would accidentally step on the clutch(you young folks might need to look that term up) and drop the front wheels off. That generally generated a lot of laughs

[windcliff]

Drive-in ping.

[janetgreen]

That movie has to be 50+ years old, and I still make sure the bathroom door is locked if I'm in the shower. Of course it didn't help matters when my kids used to "psycho shower prank" us when they could get away with it.

My friends and I crammed in the trunk a couple of times to get in the drive-in back in the '50s, but when I saw Psycho I was with my boyfriend. I've been married to this guy now for 47 years.

[Savage Beast]

Well the two of you have been through a lot together--the Psycho shower scene for example!

[Political Junkie Too]

With my luck, a Hummer will park in front of me just as the movie starts.

-PJ

[ThomasThomas]

The drive-ins I see lately use a FM signal so no sound would be heard nearby. You turn in on your car radio.

[reagan_fanatic]

Cool!

We've got this one about 30 miles from where I live. I have a 57 Chevy, and last year took it and my family up there, bought a big tub of hot buttered popcorn and some Cokes at the snackbar and sat back and watched a double-feature on a cool summer evening.

It was absolutely wonderful - I hope to do it again this summer.