![]() Instead of having to pay $5.50 for a large coke, prices at the snack bar are much more reasonable and wallet friendly. One of our favorite things about this drive-in is their snack bar. Not literally, but you know what we mean. The theater features four screens and a digital projection system that will bring every movie to life. Started in 1947, Motor Vu has been a staple in the Salt Lake Valley for generations. Located in West Valley City additional details can be found on their website. So, grab the kids and load up the suburban. Broadcasting a movie through their powerful FM system makes movies feel more real than ever. This outdoor theater has been showing movies since 1948! Since then they’ve made a bunch of changes including a state of the art projector system. Here’s three of the best from around the state. There is an online photo gallery with shots of the Samish Twin, including a shot of the interior of the snack bar.Movies are kind of a thing here in Utah but with all the mega plush movie theaters we think not enough drive-in theaters are getting the proper attention they deserve. It is now a “Park ‘n Ride” lot (see photos) While still possessing a loyal clientele at its time of closing in 2002 (Article, WWU Western Front: “Samish Twin Drive-In to be Demolished”) it simply could not prevail under the various economic pressures placed upon it. The buildings and parking lot comprise what is now known as “Meridian Village.” Bottom border is the Telegraph Rd.īuilt in 1971 and opened in 1972, this was the youngest drive-in theater in the state. The Viking Twin still stands, on the left, as well. ![]() The building on the upper left perimeter was originally Mark-it Foods, but at this time it would have been Cost Cutter Toys, if memory serves. I have heard that when the wind was right, a certain “aroma” would waft over into the theater…ġ975: Still in operation, but the writing was on the wall….ġ988: zoomed. I was 1 year old.ġ963: Note that the chicken farm remains to the north. A major venue for family entertainment at that time. I believe that’s a chicken farm to the north.ġ963: Looking spiffy, after being in operation for eight years. Site of the Moonlite Drive-In Theater, Bellingham, WA, 1950-1988ġ950 – zoomed. ![]() And I throw in a few other odds and ends, as well.Īccording to, the Motor-Vue was opened in 1955 and demolished in 75 or 76. I have done the same for the Samish Twin, which closed in 2002 after a thirty-year run, having opened in 1972. Unable to acquire any photos of either our historic Motor-Vu or Moonlite Drive-ins, I have turned to aerial photographs of the city to develop a timeline of their presence across the years. And while Jennifer Scherer Janische, CEO of Drive on In, Inc., notes that Drive-ins are enjoying something of a resurgence, accompanied by expansion or reopening of existing venues, and even the construction of brand new facilities, I must in all honesty say that I do not see this happening in the City of Bellingham, WA, anytime soon, for a complex of reasons. The reasons for this decline require little elucidation: the widespread proliferation of home video, the rise of multiplex theaters, the disappearance of “family night” with the general dissolution of the classic American “nuclear family.” Washington State saw this decline in drive-in venues, as well, as detailed in the following numbers–Īll three of Bellingham’s drive theaters are gone now, as is the one – The Holiday – that stood in the county. ![]() Today, there are only around 350 drive-in theaters that remain open. In 1958, approximately 4000 drive-ins were in operation in the U.S. For a reasonable price, the entire family could see a double feature under the stars without having to leave their car (with the exception of leaving the car to procure snacks at theater snack bars that judiciously advertised their goodies with quaint and entertaining film shorts during intermission). In the 20th century, just as the rise of the automobile as a primary mode of private transportation gave rise to motor courts and “motor hotels” (motels), so to did it give rise to a new and novel form of entertainment: the drive in movie.
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