Romantic Motor Vu Drive-In
E. 1st Street and Stock Drive,
Craig,
CO
81625
E. 1st Street and Stock Drive,
Craig,
CO
81625
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An August 2022 Google Street View shows the screen still standing. It has “Welcome to Moffat County” and a mural painted on the back.
An ad in the Craig Empire Courier said that the Sunset Drive-In’s “last program of the season” ran through Labor Day, Sept. 7, 1964. Spot checks of later summers failed to find any Sunset ads. That last double feature was “Bikini Beach” and “Donovan’s Reef”.
Craig Empire Courier, June 26, 1974: “Stan Stanfill announced this week that because of the deaths of Fred Kn?II and Charles Gilmour, the West Theatre and the Sunset Drive-In will be ottered for sate as one unit.”
After the Sunset closed, (whenever it closed), it reopened as the Romantic Motor Vu on May 7, 1976. Its show that night was “The Return of the Pink Panther” and “Mr. Majestyk”.
An ad in the June 16, 1988 Steamboat Pilot of Steamboat Springs CO said that the “Craig Motor View Drive-In Theatre Opens for season Friday, June 17th”. It continued to advertise, starting late every year, through September 1990.
From the Steamboat Pilot of Steamboat Springs CO, Aug. 2, 1979: “‘The Warriors,’ a movie with an anti-gang theme, (really?) apparently didn’t make its point with Craig viewers. The Moffat County Sheriff’s Office received a call to make a drive through at the Monday night (July 30) showing of the film after the Motor Vu Drive-In employees reported the viewers were becoming hostile, according to a sheriff’s office report.”
There’s a magnificent article by Mark Wolfe in the Winter 2007 issue of Colorado Heritage, which included most of the details of the Sunset’s life. The article, “Silver Screens Under Starry Skies,” is hard to find (cough Google), but here are the high points:
Schumour Theaters, Inc., built the Sunset and chose its name from submitted contest entries. The 280-car drive-in was scheduled to open on Aug. 5, 1954, but heavy rains turned the as-yet ungraveled ramps to mud, so the actual grand opening was the following night. The first double feature was “The Outlaw Stallion” and “Nature’s Half Acre”.
At the time of the article, “Stan Dewsnup, whose family owns the Big Sky and Tru-Vu drive-ins in Delta and indoor theaters in Delta, Rifle, and Craig, now owns the Sunset, which has been closed since 1976.”
Is it known how the fire started?
One of the relatively few demolished drive-ins where the only thing remaining is the screen itself.
When this drive-in closed it was known as the Romantic Motor Vu Drive-In.
Above address does not map correctly, Use Stock Dr & 1st St.
A couple of photos of the screen tower can be found at the following website:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/36130592
Despite its simplistic architecture, its rough and rustic appearance is amazing! It’s a shame that its no longer standing.