Skyland Drive-In
Buncombe Road,
Greenville,
SC
29609
Buncombe Road,
Greenville,
SC
29609
3 people
favorited this theater
The Skyland Drive-In was opened prior to 1955. It had a large green metal frame screen with sign facing highway.
Contributed by
richard reagan
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
The CDs mentioned above were created from a set of old reel-to-reel tapes which were rescued from oblivion by a Greenville resident when she found them at a yard sale being held by the former owners of the Skyland.
Eventually the tapes, which were recorded by Greenville AM radio DJ Lake Cely for the Skyland Drive-In, were professionally restored and transferred to CDs. The CDs can now be purcahsed through a website called “The Drive-In Exchange”. They’re fantastic, a “must have” for all drive-in enthusiasts.
A fifth Lake Cely tape does exist, but its owner chose not to allow it to be sold commercially because of music copyright concerns (the rock songs on the tape).
Just think: what if we had ALL the tapes that Lake Cely recorded for the Skyland Drive-In EACH WEEK FOR FOUR YEARS! You do the math …
I was manager of the Skyland Drive-In for several years in the early 70’s. It was a great family style drive-in and yes, had a playground down front of the big screen, with the office in the building under the screen.
As a long-time and very avid drive-in enthusiast, I fell in love with the Skyland Drive-In the first time I heard the Skyland Drive-In CDs which were sent to me by the gentleman who restored them.
Last summer I recorded four “preshow” CDs for the Pipestem Drive-In in West Virginia, playing 1950s rock n' roll with friendly snackbar plugs. I loved playing “Lake Cely” by providing recorded reshows for a real, living drive-in theater.
Sir, I would love to hear about any memories of your experiences as the manager of the Skyland Drive-In. The many drive-in enthusiasts who have come to love the Skyland Drive-In from those wonderful Lake Cely CDs would be delighted to learn more about what life was like at the Skyland.
Sadly, none of us can travel back in time and visit the Skyland. But with a bit of help from you, perhaps a little imagination will allow us to visit the Skyland … in our daydreams.
And by the way, do you have any photographs of the Skyland which could share with us? I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the web trying to find pictures of the Skyland Drive-In, but I haven’t had a bit of luck. Please, help up out! We’d love to see them.
In case you’re interested, my email is []. Hope to hear from you soon.
Bud
The Skyland Drive-In had a car capacity of 600.
Hi, I am Lake Celys son and would love to be able to get a copy of these recordings. If any one could help me find them that would be great. I will also search through the old photos I have and see if any of them are at the drive in.
There is a photo here of the grand opening in 1947:
http://www.americandrivein.com/states/sc.htm
Brook,
I can’t believe it! The son of Lake Cely — I’m very glad to meet you, sir. I love the CDs of your father’s preshow and intermission spots. You can order them from the fine people at The Drive-In Exchange by clicking on the link below. The sound quality has been carefully restored, the CDs have been handsomely packaged. You’ll love them!
View link
Oops, I forgot to include my email address, Brook. I’d love to hear more about your father and the tapes he made for the Skyland Drive-In.
If you want more on the Carolina Theatre business get WilliamC.Cline’s book “STROKE OF FORTUNE” Mr.Cline was a film booker and writes about many theatres in both states.Pictures too.Empire Publishing.
Also Glad to see all the local response,How about some stories on the WHITE HORSE DRIVE-in in Greenville.