Sunset Drive-In
3935 W. Dixon Boulevard,
Shelby,
NC
28150
3935 W. Dixon Boulevard,
Shelby,
NC
28150
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After the Sunset was closed for all of 2022, on March 5, 2023, it posted to Facebook: “This is a bittersweet moment for our family. However it is time for dad to retire and enjoy life. If anyone is truly interested please email at ”
Saddened to learn this drive-in closed recently. I went to college nearby and it was always a fun thing to do on the weekend.
The Sunset’s final show (for the season?) was Sept. 11, 2021. As of now, its web site is now lapsed, its Facebook page hasn’t been updated all year, and its phone recording still says it’s closed for the season. I hope it reopens, but for now I consider it closed.
The 1952 Theatre Catalog lists the Sunset owned by Colonial Ths., capacity 300. The 1955-56 edition raised that to 342.
The 1952-63 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the Sunset in Swainsville and owned by Colonial Theatres Inc., capacity 300. The MPA said that in 1953 it was the first drive-in for the small chain, based in Valdese NC, then run by general manager G. D. Carpenter. It wasn’t listed in the 1966-69 editions, but returned in Shelby for the 1972-76 editions.
When owner info returned in the 1978-82 editions, the Sunset was still owned by Colonial. For 1984-88, it was owned by Benfield Th.
Modern accounts say that Rick Stinnett, whose family built and ran the Bessemer City Kings Mountain Drive-In until it closed after the 2014 season, bought the Sunset in 1985. He spent $100,000 to remodel and convert the projection room in early 2014.
The Sunset was one of the five drive-ins in the state of North Carolina that upgraded to digital projection.
What time do the movies start?
I am working on a research project for school on Drive-In Movie Theaters in NC! Any informaton that anyone has would be greatly apreciated! Thanks!
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ylcbdmr
Didn’t notice that you had posted this drive-in photo almost a year ago prior to my recent follow-up post. We’re thinking along the same lines…only several months apart!
LM: Great photo of this drive-in that I didn’t get to see in my travels to Shelby last week.
http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/nctsuns