Movement to save Libby's drive-in seeks more individuals

In 1958, when there were more than 5,000 drive-in theaters across the country, families piled into their cars and trucks to go to the movies.

Lawn chairs were set up on grass berms or in the back of pickup trucks and pajama-clad youngsters ran up and down the aisle to the playground under the screen at the front of the park. Footballs flew back and forth while folks waited for sunset.

As an orange sky turned into denim blue, tailgate parties came to a close and speakers attached to car windows came alive with, “O say can you see….” and as “the land of the free….” concluded, a beam of light was directed to the screen and the movie began.

If it was family night, the double header might have been Disney's “Rascal” or “Hang Your Foot,” and if it was a triple-all-nighter, “Never a Dull Moment” while teenagers who had crammed into one car, for one price, gathered at the concession stand for cherry Cokes, chili dogs, and popcorn while waiting for the movie to start. They came to see flicks like “Horror of the Beach Party” or “Curse of the Living Corpse.”

The first drive-in screen frame was built of bricks and in 1933 the first drive-in movie, which cost 25 cents per car, was “Wife Beware.”

The industry peaked in 1958, but then as the price of land rose, multiplex theaters were built, and the advent of cable TV, drive-in theaters became nearly extinct. Marquees decayed, parking areas grew over with weeds, and broken speakers hung on rusted poles in abandoned parks.

People in Libby don't have to reach very far back in time to remember a drive-in movie. The big wood-frame screen was destroyed by a powerful windstorm that swept through town last summer, but the drive-in theater had been operating since 1954.

At first, Bert Wilson and his wife, who own the Libby drive-in, hoped to rebuild the screen, but they thought it over and decided they didn't want to operate the drive-in theater any longer. They are tired of working at the drive-in until 1 or 2 in the morning every weekend during the summer. The Wilsons both have other jobs and the theater's are more of a hobby than anything. The bulk of drive-in gross profit comes from popcorn and soft drinks and that money is made only on dry nights in warm weather. Costs include paying the movie studies for the movies, property taxes and equipment depreciation. The Wilson's look forward to a normal family life this coming summer.

Drive-in appeal is strong for many people. Some like to bring their pets, others who smoke can in their own car, handicapped individuals may be more comfortable and children can be bedded down in the back seat, saving baby-sitter money. Some people don't like to sit shoulder to shoulder with strangers and for others, it is the pure nostalgia or the chance to slip back in time for one evening in the summer.

Wilson would entertain a long-term lease on the property. He said all of the equipment is still operational and a screen could be erected with metal, which would not be authentic, but most insurance companies are not willing to insure a wooden frame unless it could be built to withstand a 90 mph wind, which the old one was. There is a set of specs to build a metal screen- frame and there are people in the community who could do that and Wilson said there is a wooden screen in the Kalispell area that might be for sale. The well at the drive-in needs a stronger pump to keep the grass green and most insurance providers want to get rid of the playground, but the 1954 original equipment is one of the main attractions.

A group of individuals in Virginia formed a non-profit community group in 1999 to save their drive-in theater. Thanks to the support of hundreds of people they were able to purchase the drive-in and are now operating the family-oriented facility as a non-profit business.

Libby might be able to do the same thing if there is enough interest. A small group has begun to form a board of directors and they are seeking support in the form of names and phone numbers of others who would like to help keep Libby's drive-in theater. Suggestions have been made to build more bleachers so the area that has been called an outdoor room with a the sky full of stars for a ceiling could be used for other functions year around.

Anyone interested in joining a grass root movement to save the Libby drive-in theater is invited to leave their name and contact information at the front desk of The Western News, 311 California Ave.