“Gusting winds toppled the screen at Starview Drive-In Theater” on December 15, 1971 according to the Norwalk Reflector’s story the next day. I’d guess that’s the off-season disaster date and not early 1972.
Rick Myers Jr., 17, Monroeville, said he was replacing fencing along the west side of the theater when he heard the screen “creaking.”
“I looked up and saw the tower (screen) shaking and I thought the wind wall (fence) was going to be blown over,” he said.
As the screen started to fall, “I ran as fast as I could.” Myers, a theater employee since March, was securing the theater for the winter off-season at the time.
The Lima News: The Grand Opening was scheduled for Saturday, June 11, 1949.
The Lima News: “A heavy windstorm” blew down the screen on Jan. 22, 1952. “Robert Hipp, manager,” said the damages were $12k-15k.
The Lima News: In June 1958, Robert Hipp filed charges against two 19-year-olds for burglarizing the Hi-Road.
The Marion Star: In June 1961, “Merle E. Horst, manager of the Kenton Theatre and Hi Road Drive In Theatre” corrected an odd story of someone claiming to be with the theatres filming a city council meeting.
An ad for the Hi Road Flea Market (at the Hi Road Drive-In) appears in several June 1977 issues of The Courier of Findlay OH. But not a movie listings ad.
The Greenville Daily Advocate, Oct. 13, 1984: “Attorney’s (sic) and realtors have filed notices with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dayton listing fees they wish to charge D.F. John and Diane Tabor, owners of … the Hi-Road Drive-In of Kenton” and nine other area theatres.
The Hi Road apparently began advertising in The Marion Star in August 1998.
rdoitmiller et al, back in the day, when a drive-in was doing really well, sometimes its owners would buy a chunk of adjoining land to expand. That might well be what happened at the Hi-Road.
Data dump from my Theatre Catalogs and Motion Picture Almanacs.
Although the Theatre Catalog and Motion Picture Almanacs had switched to calling it the Skyline Drive-In by 1952, its newspaper ads kept the Cruise In name going until 1970.
Here’s a nice YouTube video the Skyline produced in 2014:
The South’s history page says it opened in 1950. Then again, it says it was twinned in 1987, but the 1984 Motion Picture Almanac already showed it with two screens. Here’s the data dump from my Theatre Catalogs and Motion Picture Almanacs:
1949-50 TC: not listed
1952 TC: Milton Yassenoff, capacity 550.
1953-54 MPA: Milton Yassenoff, 700.
1955-56 TC: Milton Yassenoff, 750.
1959-63 MPA: Milton Yassenoff, 700.
1969-76 MPA: not listed (but I saw a 1969 newspaper that still showed the South)
The Bel-Air Facebook page says the place opened in 1952, and I believe it! For some reason, the oldest reference books kept wanting to place it in Osgood, almost 4 miles away, instead of Versailles, less than half that distance. Here’s my data dump from the Theatre Catalogs and Motion Picture Almanacs:
TC 1952: Bel Air D. I. in Versailles. Exec: Paul Kelly. Cap. 250.
Also, note that these days, the Melody 49 always claims Brookville as its host city. The 1969-76 IMPAs put it in Dayton(!). The 1982-88 IMPAs put it in Englewood.
The Melody 49, located at 7606 Pleasant Plains Road, Brookville, opened with a bang on July 1, 1966. With space for 1,100 cars on its 18 acres, the cost of the year round theater was estimated to run $500,000 by Ralph T. Sharp, Inc., the general contractor for the project. A 75’ x 130’ Cinemiracle picture screen, installed by the M. E. Renfro Screen Tower Company, was chosen so that both 35 and 70 mm movies could be shown. Circle-R electric car heaters were provided during the winter to adventurous movie goers.
Melody 49 began their gala opening with a giant fireworks display, followed by three hit movies, including the incredible undersea adventure ‘Around the World Under the Sea’ starring Lloyd Bridges.
Michael Chakeres, then vice-president and general manager of Chakeres Theaters, Inc. stated that the new theater would “have first run and subsequent run family-type shows similar to Southland 75 (Drive-In). This is a fast growing area and will serve Brookville, Englewood, Trotwood and other communities.”
In 1982 Melody 49 switched to a sound process with operated through a special cable installed above the drive-in parking area. The movie soundtrack was transmitted through the cable, which broadcasted over an AM frequency that could be picked up by the patron’s car radio. In 1998 this was replaced by an FM frequency.
The theater changed it name to the Melody 49 Twin in 1987 after a second motion picture screen was added. Taken from Southland 75 after it closed, the smaller screen was set up at the back of the lot and could accommodate approximately 200 cars.
… Melody 49 was the second all-medallion theater in Ohio, meaning that everything was electrically operated, including the heating and air-conditioning.
The three lane snack bar, designed by architect R. J. McNutt, was built to be capable of serving 2,000 patrons in 30 minutes. Since most refreshments were bought during the ten minute intermission, quick service was of the utmost importance. Automatic food warmers were installed to ensure that the snacks remained hot and delicious.
From its Facebook page: The Starlite Drive-In opened in 1947. At that time a World War II Veteran Jerry Jackson from Williamburg, Ohio was the builder and owner until about 1968.
From me: The Starlite was listed under Mount Holly in the 1948-49 Theatre Catalog, plus following editions, all with Jerome Jackson. The 1953-63 MPAs call him Jerry Jackson, also in Mount Holly.
After a while, the MPAs moved the Starlite. I can’t find it in the 1969-82 editions, which had too many Starlite/Starlights to quickly pick through. In 1984-88 it was in Batavia, address 2255 Ohio Pike, owned by Holiday Amuse.
My sources are more confused than usual, possibly due to the cross-ownership between the Holiday’s owners and the owners of other drive-ins in Hamilton. Here are my notes from the Theatre Catalog and Motion Picture Almanac.
TC 1948-49: Hamilton Outdoor, Louis Aldt, 350
TC 1949-50: Hamilton Outdoor, L. E. Ott, 400
TC 1952: Outdoor DI, Marc Cummings and Ben Cohen, 400
MP 1953-54: Hamilton Outdoor, Theater Owners Corp., 350
TC 1955-56: Holiday Auto DI, Ben Cohen, 400
MP 1959: Hamilton Outdoor, L. Olt, 350
MP 1963: Hamilton Outdoor, L. Olt, 350 -and- Holiday Auto, 350
MP 1969-76: Holiday, 350
MP 1982: Holiday Auto, Holiday Amu., 485
MP 1984-88: Holiday Auto, Holiday Amuse. (which also owned the Colonial and Valley in Hamilton)
First Built and Opened in the summer of 1961 or 1962, the brain Child of Lawrence County Owners, George W. Webb and Theodore G. Stigall, the Holiday Drive-In Theater is located halfway between Mitchell and Orleans Indiana on SR 37. The Holiday Drive-In Theater can hold up to 325 cars with a single screen that measures 68 feet wide by 40 feet tall. Steve L Wilson of Paoli had worked for and with his Mentor, Robert Limeberry in 1983, 2003 & 2004 and ultimately purchased The Holiday Drive In from the Estate of Robert Limeberry during the Winter of 2005.
Robert had been the past owner of 22 years starting in 1983. While Steve is the Third Owner of the theater, he is the very first owner to own the 9.5 acres of which the theater sits upon. He purchased the land from the Estate of Elinor Gardner Jones, of Paoli, the first week of January 2008. Elinor was the daughter of original land owner, Lowell A. & Jamie L Troth of Orleans Indiana. With this purchase, Mr. Wilson hopes to bring greater changes and enhancements over the coming years that were not possible under a land leased situation.
From the current About page: The Starlite Drive-In originally opened in 1955 by Carl & Ruth Stewart, who lovingly operated it for 48 years. We are only the 4th owners, as we continue this Monroe County Tradition following the Jarvis Family and the Freeman Family (who saved the Starlite by converting to Digital Projection). The Barnhart family and KJB Theaters look forward to seeing you at the Drive-In!
Both the Indianapolis Star (in 2010) and the Franklin Daily Journal (in 2013) wrote that owner Mike Rembusch “created” or “built” the drive-in in 2005.
A friendly voice in Outdoor Moovies' YouTube video says, “We opened the drive-in last September. It’s Grand Opening was in April.” But the Daily Journal ad I’ve uploaded shows they were calling it a Grand Opening on Sept. 24, 2004. It’s first full season was in 2005, but I think it’s safe to say it was built and opened in 2004.
Rick and Elaine Dearduff bought the drive-in in 2003; that may have been when they added the periods to make it M.E.L.S. As of May 2017, they still own it.
Just for you, dear Cinema Treasures reader, I ponied up the cash to Newspapers.com to find most of the answers to our questions, all in one July 1998 article. According to the Indianapolis Star:
Harry Ziegler founded the drive-in, which opened in 1946. (That plus the weird capacity number makes the single Morrison mention look like a misplaced index card in the Theatre Catalog files.) Ziegler showed Mother Wore Tights on a 16mm projector he operated from a chicken coop.
John Osborne bought it in 1972 from the retiring Ziegler.
Mike and Melanie Roth bought the “deteriorating” facility in 1994, “fixed it up and renamed it Mel’s after Melanie.” (Dunno when Mel’s became M.E.L.S.) At that point, they were only the third owner.
“The two huge Motiograph projectors are 50 years old and resemble cannons capable of hurling artillery shells to Frankfort.”
OTOH, the article always referred to the pre-Mels name as the Starlite, and claimed it was “the second oldest in the country”, so like all sources, it’s not perfect.
The Skyline opened on Memorial Day Weekend 1950, built by Robert Wilcox and a partner just after he left the Air Force, and has been in continuous operation since, according to its YouTube video.
Various sources say that Joe (Joey?) Gaudin (Goddin? Gautin?) is the owner, some say co-owner along with Matt Masters. Indianapolis Monthly wrote that Gaudin bought it “from the original owners” in 2009. But I doubt that.
Here’s part of a photo caption about Shelbyville’s indoor Strand from Panoramio, which is closing soon so I’ll paste it here: It opened for movies in March, 1916. William C. Meloy was the owner. Mr. Meloy passed away in 1938. His sons ran it until 1951 when they sold it to the Switow Brothers of Louisville, KY. About 1973, the theatre changed hands again. By this time, the Switows had changed the name to Cinema. This time the DeWitt family became the owners.
That parallels my references' Skyline owners. Robert Wilcox was listed as owner in 1952. S. J. Switow is listed as the Skyline’s owner in 1959. E. Dewitt was the owner in 1982-88.
The Bloomington Herald Times has a May 2001 article about the “Center Brook”, but it’s behind a paywall. (cough Google cached) It says that Robert and Stacia Zloty bought the 50-year-old Center Brook Drive-in and entertainment complex at a sheriff’s sale. “The Zlotys reopened the Center Brook on Sept. 1, 2000”. So it must have been closed for a while?
“My husband wanted the baseball diamonds, and I wanted the outdoor theater. I hope to make the drive-in look like it used to when it first opened,” Stacia said. The article includes a (staged?) photo of her checking a speaker for possible replacement.
“Center Brook originally opened on May 2, 1950, and was built and operated by Clyde Weddle Jr., Clyde Weddle Sr. and Robert H. Brown.”
Stacia remembered that the original screen was 60-by-60 feet, and there were 500 parking spaces.
From the CenterBrook About Us page, which also has plenty of photos:
The Centerbrook Drive-in first opened on Tuesday May 2nd, 1950 (see the ad to the left… note the original wooden screen, which was blown down by a tornado in the 1960′s), and has been serving Martinsville, IN and the surrounding communities ever since. Centerbrook gets it’s name from the two nearby towns of Centerton and Brooklyn (“Center”-ton combined with “Brook”-lyn).
Centerbrook has been in continuous operation every year since 1950, and we are lucky to be one of 350+ drive-ins still operating in the U.S. We are the last surviving drive-in out of 4 known drive-ins in Morgan County, including the “Templeton Wheel-in Outdoor Theatre,” which was located on 67 just 3 miles north of Centerbrook (see the ads along the bottom of this page).
The Huntington Drive In Theatre was established May 5th, 1950 and to the best of our knowledge has been in operation ever since. We, John and Anilda Detzler, took over the theatre in August 2001 with plans on improvements. Since then we have made many upgrades and hope to continue to do so with your strong support.
On March 31, 2005 a severe wind storm took down 2/3 of the screen tower. We decided to rebuild and started showing movies again by the Memorial Day Weekend. You can listen to the movie on our in car speakers or FM stereo radio.
Tons of great old photos here. Note that the second screen was built for the 2011 season. That lot was FM only.
The book Huntington County Farmers and Families (1993) said, “The Huntington Theater was owned by Hal Rosebrough, Charlie Cutsall, and a corporation from the south. Gail Lancaster was the manager.” That was from a listing for Melvin Charles Kennedy, who ran the projectors there.
An April 2015 WANE news report (now on YouTube) apparently witnessed the official change in ownership, using title company pens. The report said that previous owners John Detzler and his unnamed wife (her name is Nellie!) bought the place “about 13 years ago”. The new owner was presented as Bob Goodrich of Goodrich Quality Theaters.
An article in The Journal Gazette the previous December noted that the Detzlers had a purchase agreement done for the Huntington Twin. “There are two major reasons: I’m 61 and my wife is 68, and we’ve tried to do most everything ourselves, including the long, late hours,” Detzler said. “Our primary plan, dream and goal has always been to relocate (to Colorado) permanently.” Happy retirement, you two!
Nov. 5, 1949: The Star View’s ad promised free gas “when below 50” and free comic books!
Sandusky Register Star News, March 19, 1952: Ernest Plitz returns as manager after being recalled for 18 months on Naval service.
Sandusky Register Star News, Sept. 10, 1955: Gordon Evans succeeds Plitz as manager. Plitz left to manage a drive-in chain in Florida.
“Gusting winds toppled the screen at Starview Drive-In Theater” on December 15, 1971 according to the Norwalk Reflector’s story the next day. I’d guess that’s the off-season disaster date and not early 1972.
Rick Myers Jr., 17, Monroeville, said he was replacing fencing along the west side of the theater when he heard the screen “creaking.”
“I looked up and saw the tower (screen) shaking and I thought the wind wall (fence) was going to be blown over,” he said.
As the screen started to fall, “I ran as fast as I could.” Myers, a theater employee since March, was securing the theater for the winter off-season at the time.
Newspaper notes:
The Lima News: The Grand Opening was scheduled for Saturday, June 11, 1949.
The Lima News: “A heavy windstorm” blew down the screen on Jan. 22, 1952. “Robert Hipp, manager,” said the damages were $12k-15k.
The Lima News: In June 1958, Robert Hipp filed charges against two 19-year-olds for burglarizing the Hi-Road.
The Marion Star: In June 1961, “Merle E. Horst, manager of the Kenton Theatre and Hi Road Drive In Theatre” corrected an odd story of someone claiming to be with the theatres filming a city council meeting.
An ad for the Hi Road Flea Market (at the Hi Road Drive-In) appears in several June 1977 issues of The Courier of Findlay OH. But not a movie listings ad.
The Greenville Daily Advocate, Oct. 13, 1984: “Attorney’s (sic) and realtors have filed notices with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dayton listing fees they wish to charge D.F. John and Diane Tabor, owners of … the Hi-Road Drive-In of Kenton” and nine other area theatres.
The Hi Road apparently began advertising in The Marion Star in August 1998.
rdoitmiller et al, back in the day, when a drive-in was doing really well, sometimes its owners would buy a chunk of adjoining land to expand. That might well be what happened at the Hi-Road.
Data dump from my Theatre Catalogs and Motion Picture Almanacs.
1949-50 TC: Bob Hipp, capacity 325
1952 TC: Robert W. Kipp (sic), 325
1953-54 MPA: Ohio Theatre Service Corp., 325
1955-56 TC: Robert W. Hipp, 400
1959 MPA: Ohio Theatre Service Corp., 325
1963 MPA: General Theatres, 325
1969-76 MPA: 325
1982-88 MPA: not listed
Although the Theatre Catalog and Motion Picture Almanacs had switched to calling it the Skyline Drive-In by 1952, its newspaper ads kept the Cruise In name going until 1970.
Here’s a nice YouTube video the Skyline produced in 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4eViP2UQRo
The South’s history page says it opened in 1950. Then again, it says it was twinned in 1987, but the 1984 Motion Picture Almanac already showed it with two screens. Here’s the data dump from my Theatre Catalogs and Motion Picture Almanacs:
1949-50 TC: not listed
1952 TC: Milton Yassenoff, capacity 550.
1953-54 MPA: Milton Yassenoff, 700.
1955-56 TC: Milton Yassenoff, 750.
1959-63 MPA: Milton Yassenoff, 700.
1969-76 MPA: not listed (but I saw a 1969 newspaper that still showed the South)
1982 MPA: Rainbow Ent., 750.
1984-88 MPA: Rainbow Ent., two screens.
The Bel-Air Facebook page says the place opened in 1952, and I believe it! For some reason, the oldest reference books kept wanting to place it in Osgood, almost 4 miles away, instead of Versailles, less than half that distance. Here’s my data dump from the Theatre Catalogs and Motion Picture Almanacs:
TC 1952: Bel Air D. I. in Versailles. Exec: Paul Kelly. Cap. 250.
MPA 1953-54: Bellaire in Osgood. Carl Rief, 250.
TC 1955-56: Bel Air in Osgood. Paul Kelly, 250.
MPA 1959: Bellaire in Osgood. Carl Rief, 250.
MPA 1963: Bellaire in Osgood. Russell Kelly, 250.
MPA 1969-76: Bel-Air in Versailles, 300.
MPA 1982: Bel Air in Versailles, J. Holokan, 300.
MPA 1984: Bel Air in Versailles, Chorpenning.
MPA 1986-88: not listed.
That previous passage appears to come from Dayton History Books Online.
Also, note that these days, the Melody 49 always claims Brookville as its host city. The 1969-76 IMPAs put it in Dayton(!). The 1982-88 IMPAs put it in Englewood.
From the Melody 49 Facebook page About section:
The Melody 49, located at 7606 Pleasant Plains Road, Brookville, opened with a bang on July 1, 1966. With space for 1,100 cars on its 18 acres, the cost of the year round theater was estimated to run $500,000 by Ralph T. Sharp, Inc., the general contractor for the project. A 75’ x 130’ Cinemiracle picture screen, installed by the M. E. Renfro Screen Tower Company, was chosen so that both 35 and 70 mm movies could be shown. Circle-R electric car heaters were provided during the winter to adventurous movie goers.
Melody 49 began their gala opening with a giant fireworks display, followed by three hit movies, including the incredible undersea adventure ‘Around the World Under the Sea’ starring Lloyd Bridges.
Michael Chakeres, then vice-president and general manager of Chakeres Theaters, Inc. stated that the new theater would “have first run and subsequent run family-type shows similar to Southland 75 (Drive-In). This is a fast growing area and will serve Brookville, Englewood, Trotwood and other communities.”
In 1982 Melody 49 switched to a sound process with operated through a special cable installed above the drive-in parking area. The movie soundtrack was transmitted through the cable, which broadcasted over an AM frequency that could be picked up by the patron’s car radio. In 1998 this was replaced by an FM frequency.
The theater changed it name to the Melody 49 Twin in 1987 after a second motion picture screen was added. Taken from Southland 75 after it closed, the smaller screen was set up at the back of the lot and could accommodate approximately 200 cars.
… Melody 49 was the second all-medallion theater in Ohio, meaning that everything was electrically operated, including the heating and air-conditioning.
The three lane snack bar, designed by architect R. J. McNutt, was built to be capable of serving 2,000 patrons in 30 minutes. Since most refreshments were bought during the ten minute intermission, quick service was of the utmost importance. Automatic food warmers were installed to ensure that the snacks remained hot and delicious.
From its Facebook page: The Starlite Drive-In opened in 1947. At that time a World War II Veteran Jerry Jackson from Williamburg, Ohio was the builder and owner until about 1968.
From me: The Starlite was listed under Mount Holly in the 1948-49 Theatre Catalog, plus following editions, all with Jerome Jackson. The 1953-63 MPAs call him Jerry Jackson, also in Mount Holly.
After a while, the MPAs moved the Starlite. I can’t find it in the 1969-82 editions, which had too many Starlite/Starlights to quickly pick through. In 1984-88 it was in Batavia, address 2255 Ohio Pike, owned by Holiday Amuse.
My sources are more confused than usual, possibly due to the cross-ownership between the Holiday’s owners and the owners of other drive-ins in Hamilton. Here are my notes from the Theatre Catalog and Motion Picture Almanac.
TC 1948-49: Hamilton Outdoor, Louis Aldt, 350
TC 1949-50: Hamilton Outdoor, L. E. Ott, 400
TC 1952: Outdoor DI, Marc Cummings and Ben Cohen, 400
MP 1953-54: Hamilton Outdoor, Theater Owners Corp., 350
TC 1955-56: Holiday Auto DI, Ben Cohen, 400
MP 1959: Hamilton Outdoor, L. Olt, 350
MP 1963: Hamilton Outdoor, L. Olt, 350 -and- Holiday Auto, 350
MP 1969-76: Holiday, 350
MP 1982: Holiday Auto, Holiday Amu., 485
MP 1984-88: Holiday Auto, Holiday Amuse. (which also owned the Colonial and Valley in Hamilton)
From its Picture Gallery page:
First Built and Opened in the summer of 1961 or 1962, the brain Child of Lawrence County Owners, George W. Webb and Theodore G. Stigall, the Holiday Drive-In Theater is located halfway between Mitchell and Orleans Indiana on SR 37. The Holiday Drive-In Theater can hold up to 325 cars with a single screen that measures 68 feet wide by 40 feet tall. Steve L Wilson of Paoli had worked for and with his Mentor, Robert Limeberry in 1983, 2003 & 2004 and ultimately purchased The Holiday Drive In from the Estate of Robert Limeberry during the Winter of 2005.
Robert had been the past owner of 22 years starting in 1983. While Steve is the Third Owner of the theater, he is the very first owner to own the 9.5 acres of which the theater sits upon. He purchased the land from the Estate of Elinor Gardner Jones, of Paoli, the first week of January 2008. Elinor was the daughter of original land owner, Lowell A. & Jamie L Troth of Orleans Indiana. With this purchase, Mr. Wilson hopes to bring greater changes and enhancements over the coming years that were not possible under a land leased situation.
Nice drone video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMH0CTNs8JI
IMPA data:
1963, owner Geo. Webb, capacity 200
1969-76, 200
1982, G. Webb, 200
1984, G. Webb
1986-88, Limberry
From the current About page: The Starlite Drive-In originally opened in 1955 by Carl & Ruth Stewart, who lovingly operated it for 48 years. We are only the 4th owners, as we continue this Monroe County Tradition following the Jarvis Family and the Freeman Family (who saved the Starlite by converting to Digital Projection). The Barnhart family and KJB Theaters look forward to seeing you at the Drive-In!
Both the Indianapolis Star (in 2010) and the Franklin Daily Journal (in 2013) wrote that owner Mike Rembusch “created” or “built” the drive-in in 2005.
A friendly voice in Outdoor Moovies' YouTube video says, “We opened the drive-in last September. It’s Grand Opening was in April.” But the Daily Journal ad I’ve uploaded shows they were calling it a Grand Opening on Sept. 24, 2004. It’s first full season was in 2005, but I think it’s safe to say it was built and opened in 2004.
Rick and Elaine Dearduff bought the drive-in in 2003; that may have been when they added the periods to make it M.E.L.S. As of May 2017, they still own it.
Just for you, dear Cinema Treasures reader, I ponied up the cash to Newspapers.com to find most of the answers to our questions, all in one July 1998 article. According to the Indianapolis Star:
Harry Ziegler founded the drive-in, which opened in 1946. (That plus the weird capacity number makes the single Morrison mention look like a misplaced index card in the Theatre Catalog files.) Ziegler showed Mother Wore Tights on a 16mm projector he operated from a chicken coop.
John Osborne bought it in 1972 from the retiring Ziegler.
Mike and Melanie Roth bought the “deteriorating” facility in 1994, “fixed it up and renamed it Mel’s after Melanie.” (Dunno when Mel’s became M.E.L.S.) At that point, they were only the third owner.
“The two huge Motiograph projectors are 50 years old and resemble cannons capable of hurling artillery shells to Frankfort.”
OTOH, the article always referred to the pre-Mels name as the Starlite, and claimed it was “the second oldest in the country”, so like all sources, it’s not perfect.
For a drive-in that’s supposed to have had so many name changes, my sources are very consistent:
1948-49: no listing
1949-50: Frankfort-Lebanon, Charles F. Morrison (capacity 400!)
1952-56: Frankfort-Lebanon, Harry Ziegler (150)
1959-63: Frankfort-Lebanon, Harry W. Ziegler (100)
1969-76: Frankfort-Lebanon (100)
1982: Lebanon Frankfort, J. Osborne (250)
1984-88: Lebanon Frankfort, J. Osborne
The Skyline opened on Memorial Day Weekend 1950, built by Robert Wilcox and a partner just after he left the Air Force, and has been in continuous operation since, according to its YouTube video.
Various sources say that Joe (Joey?) Gaudin (Goddin? Gautin?) is the owner, some say co-owner along with Matt Masters. Indianapolis Monthly wrote that Gaudin bought it “from the original owners” in 2009. But I doubt that.
Here’s part of a photo caption about Shelbyville’s indoor Strand from Panoramio, which is closing soon so I’ll paste it here: It opened for movies in March, 1916. William C. Meloy was the owner. Mr. Meloy passed away in 1938. His sons ran it until 1951 when they sold it to the Switow Brothers of Louisville, KY. About 1973, the theatre changed hands again. By this time, the Switows had changed the name to Cinema. This time the DeWitt family became the owners.
That parallels my references' Skyline owners. Robert Wilcox was listed as owner in 1952. S. J. Switow is listed as the Skyline’s owner in 1959. E. Dewitt was the owner in 1982-88.
The Bloomington Herald Times has a May 2001 article about the “Center Brook”, but it’s behind a paywall. (cough Google cached) It says that Robert and Stacia Zloty bought the 50-year-old Center Brook Drive-in and entertainment complex at a sheriff’s sale. “The Zlotys reopened the Center Brook on Sept. 1, 2000”. So it must have been closed for a while?
“My husband wanted the baseball diamonds, and I wanted the outdoor theater. I hope to make the drive-in look like it used to when it first opened,” Stacia said. The article includes a (staged?) photo of her checking a speaker for possible replacement.
“Center Brook originally opened on May 2, 1950, and was built and operated by Clyde Weddle Jr., Clyde Weddle Sr. and Robert H. Brown.”
Stacia remembered that the original screen was 60-by-60 feet, and there were 500 parking spaces.
FWIW, my references all list the Centerbrook capacity at 400, with one exception.
The Theatre Catalogs place the Centerbrook in Centerton. Exec: Clyde E. Weddel, Jr.
The 1959-63 IMPAs also used Centerton, owner Charles Morrison, who also owned the Maplecroft DI in Clayton.
The 1982-88 IMPAs had owner R. Terrell and a capacity (in ‘82) of just 250.
From the CenterBrook About Us page, which also has plenty of photos:
The Centerbrook Drive-in first opened on Tuesday May 2nd, 1950 (see the ad to the left… note the original wooden screen, which was blown down by a tornado in the 1960′s), and has been serving Martinsville, IN and the surrounding communities ever since. Centerbrook gets it’s name from the two nearby towns of Centerton and Brooklyn (“Center”-ton combined with “Brook”-lyn).
Centerbrook has been in continuous operation every year since 1950, and we are lucky to be one of 350+ drive-ins still operating in the U.S. We are the last surviving drive-in out of 4 known drive-ins in Morgan County, including the “Templeton Wheel-in Outdoor Theatre,” which was located on 67 just 3 miles north of Centerbrook (see the ads along the bottom of this page).
From the archived web site in 2013:
The Huntington Drive In Theatre was established May 5th, 1950 and to the best of our knowledge has been in operation ever since. We, John and Anilda Detzler, took over the theatre in August 2001 with plans on improvements. Since then we have made many upgrades and hope to continue to do so with your strong support.
On March 31, 2005 a severe wind storm took down 2/3 of the screen tower. We decided to rebuild and started showing movies again by the Memorial Day Weekend. You can listen to the movie on our in car speakers or FM stereo radio.
Tons of great old photos here. Note that the second screen was built for the 2011 season. That lot was FM only.
The book Huntington County Farmers and Families (1993) said, “The Huntington Theater was owned by Hal Rosebrough, Charlie Cutsall, and a corporation from the south. Gail Lancaster was the manager.” That was from a listing for Melvin Charles Kennedy, who ran the projectors there.
An April 2015 WANE news report (now on YouTube) apparently witnessed the official change in ownership, using title company pens. The report said that previous owners John Detzler and his unnamed wife (her name is Nellie!) bought the place “about 13 years ago”. The new owner was presented as Bob Goodrich of Goodrich Quality Theaters.
An article in The Journal Gazette the previous December noted that the Detzlers had a purchase agreement done for the Huntington Twin. “There are two major reasons: I’m 61 and my wife is 68, and we’ve tried to do most everything ourselves, including the long, late hours,” Detzler said. “Our primary plan, dream and goal has always been to relocate (to Colorado) permanently.” Happy retirement, you two!