OHIO DRIVE- IN ROADTRIP - FEBRUARY 2006 - DAY 1
Two days, twenty three drive-in theaters, one speeding ticket, and one Air Force One. Ride along
as the Michigandriveins.com/Waterwinterwonderland.com Road Crew takes a February 2006 drive-in
road trip to Ohio. The primary target was the soon-to-be demolished Oakley Drive-In in Cincinnati.
We found the Oakley still standing, minus it's snack bar, destined to be yet another National
Amusements fatality. On the upside, we also found an amazing number of very nice open Ohio
ozoners that appeared to be thriving, and of course, some interesting graveyards.
| Drive-In #1: Ramp jumping in a drive-in graveyard The first stop as we headed to Ohio was the site of the Starlite Drive-In in Addison, Michigan. Not much left here, what looked to possibly be the screen tower foundation at the back of the lot. This drive-in is somewhat of a mystery, the field layout is still unknown. The ramps were no mystery, they kept the Jeep hopping. The next stop promises to be much more interesting.... |
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Drive-In #2: Praise the Lord! Next up was one more Michigan Drive-In before we crossed the state line. It's the Michigan Drive-In, otherwise known as the Devils Lake Drive-In. This tiny ozoner, with its unique enclosed screen tower/home, shows religious films. There's no snack bar to speak of, so bring your own chow. There is a stage (altar?) and a glassed in area next to the screen. A very unique drive-in indeed. Peace be with you and on to Ohio.... |
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| Drive-In #3: A Dark Star The first Ohio target was the Star Drive-In, just over the state line in Wauseon. Only the screen tower remains and it looks to be in perfect condition. The Star closed in 1999 and is situated right in town, light pollution had to have been an issue here. Why the snack bar was demo'd and the screen wasn't is a mystery. The site is for sale, it would be great to see someone revive this old ozoner. |
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Drive-In #4: Northern Ohio Survivor Next up was the classic Van-Del Drive-In, near Middlepoint, Ohio. The 400-car Van-Del is so named becuse it is midway between Van Wert and Delphos, Ohio. A very nice enclosed screen tower and a colorful marquee greeted us as we arrived, the drive-in was closed for the winter of course, as were all of our targets. The Van-Del is a nice country drive-in, and is very well maintained. The owner also owns an indoor down the road in Van Wert, and the demolished Ridgeway Drive-In, which is our next stop. |
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| Detour #1: Vintage Neon Signage We couldn't resist snapping a shot of this old drive-in restuarant with it's BK Root Beer neon sign, it was found in Van Wert as we headed for the Ridgeway Drive-In site. We were to find even more cool vintage neon signage as the trip progressed. |
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Drive-In #5: Twister - 1, Drive-In - 0 Another lost classic ozoner, the Ridgeway Drive-In just west of Van Wert. Unfortunately it was destroyed by a F4 tornado in November, 2002. Other than the ticket booth, the drive-in was totally wiped out. The adjacent 5-screen Van Wert Cinemas indoor theater was also heavily damaged in the storm, but has since been rebuilt. There's pre-twister photos of the Ridgeway at Cinematour.com, and photos of the indoor at vwindependent.com. |
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| Drive-In #6: Lake Drive-In Heading south on 127 to Celina, we found the first of several Chakeres Theatres ozoners, this one being the single screen, 475-car Lake Drive-In. The vintage marquee is one of my favs, very eye-catching. The entire drive-in looked to be very well taken care of, as are all Chakeres drive-in's it seems. This one is high on our list for a return summertime visit. |
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Drive-In #7: Starlite Drive-In We continued south on 127 and found the little 300-car Starlite Drive-In near Maria Stein, Ohio. The Starlite didn't look like it was open anymore, theres' cars parked all over the place and it looked kinda run-down. So, it was a quick photo stop, and we're off to find more interesting material. |
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| Detour #2: More Vintage Neon Signage All of the drive-in's we planned to see were mapped out ahead of time, using Drive-Ins.com, Forgottenoh.com, Terra Server, and Curt Daltons Greater Dayton Drive-In Theatres book for reference. One unplanned stop found on Forgottenoh.com was the Speedway Auto Theater. A race track and a drive-in together maybe? We HAD to find this one. A quick call home to one of our trusty junior crew members got us the exact location from Terra Server. Even though there was little info, and no photos on Drive-Ins.com, we hoped to find some remnants. So, off to Greenville we went. As we headed thru town, we spotted this very cool old motel sign. |
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Drive-In #8: Speedway Auto Graveyard The Speedway Auto Theater was easy enough to find, the smashed marquee on Eidson Rd. (NOT Hwy 49) stood out like a sore thumb. Many speaker poles remain as does the typically vandalized snack bar. The screen was long gone of course, and the lot was so heavily overgrown, the snack bar was not visible from the entrance. We were not able to find access to the old race track behind the theater, but from the Terra Server image, there doesn't appear to be much left to see. You're seeing exclusive Speedway Auto photos, no other site has! |
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| Drive-In #9: Melody Drive-In Down Hwy 49 we went, headed for another Chakeres Theatres drive-in. This was the fantastic Melody 49 Twin, definately one of the highlights of the trip. The Melody 49 opened in the 60's and has a huge sloped, paved field. Apparently the huge main screen was recently replaced, and the second screen was salvaged from the nearby Southland 75 Drive-In, according to Curt Daltons Greater Dayton Drive-In Theatres book. The marquee appears to be the original which has been strangely modified. |
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Drive-In #10: Dixie Drive-In We were running out of daylight, so only a couple of more stops to go on Day One. The Dixie Twin was visited on a previous road trip in August 2002, but the cool 900-car twin theater warranted a return visit for more photos. Sadly, the incredible vintage marquee looks to be falling apart, hopefully they will properly repair it soon. Lock the doors, we're off to the Sherwood Twin. |
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Drive-In #11: Deep In The 'Hood The last stop of the day was a quick one at this Dayton ghetto graveyard, the Sherwood Twin. These ruins were also visited in 2002, and we didn't stick around long then either. The front screen was moved to the Dixie in early '02, and the ticket box offices have been demo'd since our last visit. We assumed this was the marquee, it looks drive-in-ish. The front snack bar remains, but we didn't explore it. The draw for us was the barely visible rear screen, and possibly a rear snack bar. Considering the odds of encountering a crackhead back there, common sense, and the lack of a firearm, we didn't explore it either. Maybe next time! More Sherwood photos are on Cinematour.com. No photos of the rear screen could be found online, so here's another Michigandriveins.com exclusive! |
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End of Day 1 We quickly skated out of the ghetto and headed south for Cincinnati. A quick after-dark stop at Oakley Drive-In verified it was still standing, we'd be back in the morning. On to Ohio Drive-In Road Trip Day 2 |
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