Starlite Drive-In
275 Starlight Drive,
Christiansburg,
VA
24073
275 Starlight Drive,
Christiansburg,
VA
24073
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Collegiate Times wrote in 2012 that the “Starlite was opened in 1953 by Richard and Dorothy Beasley. The two ‘built, owned, and operated the Starlite Theater together for all those years’ before Richard passed away in July of 2009.”
Peggy Beasley was the current owner in that 2012 article, and she’s still the owner in 2017.
The Starlite has radio sound, but they run “a six-speaker sound system sitting atop” the concession / projection building because some folks are afraid of running down their car batteries. Gee whiz, why not spend a little cash on rentable portable radios instead of your lawyer?
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Starlite as owned by R. W. Beasley, capacity 162.
The Starlite’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1955 edition. Again, owned by R. W. Beasley but no capacity figure. It stayed that way through 1966, with an eventual capacity of 150.
When ownership info returned for the 1978-84 editions, the “Starlight” was owned by H.W. Beasley, capacity 300. The drive-in was off the MPA lists by 1986.
They are experiencing some trouble with their neighbors. Seems that they were losing too many in-a-car speakers to accidental damage or souvenir hunters so they installed blast speakers. They are now going to court since the neighbors complained.
The Starlite Drive-In converted to digital projection in 2012.
Cool its still open and almost 60years old.