Save The Diamond State Drive-In Theatre
Last night I spent a very nice evening in Felton at the Diamond State Drive-In Theatre. We watched two underrated movies “Space Chimps” (which was very funny) and Eddie Murphy’s “Meet Dave” (which I slept through but my family tells me was good). It was a “Dusk to Dawn” bill which progressed on to some Vin Diesel movie and
Anyway, what a fun night. The snack bar food is good and a good value, the bathrooms are clean and it was an all around great product and great entertainment value.
Here is a bit of history. The current operators (I guess) are renting and it seems that the land that the theater occupies has been appraised at $1.2 million and the land owners will be clearing the property in order to sell it.
The bottom line is that (barring some miracle) the drive in will go dark in mid-november Delaware’s last Drive-In will close forever.
The Drive-In operators seemed pretty resigned to their fate, but they invited Carney, Markell, Lee and Protack to last night’s show to talk about “Historic Preservation” and got one response….from Protack….who called to ask if they thought there would be any press…. when they said, “probably not” they never heard back from him.
http://www.dsdit.com/keep_dsdit_alive.shtml
I love Drive-Ins — very family friendly and cheaper (I think) than regular theater movies. Have never been to this one, though and it seems a shame that reasonably-priced, family oriented venues are less valuable than some new housing development or strip mall.
Pleasant Hill Drive In—Price’s Corner Drive In–Rt.202 Drive In—now Diamond State…..RIP…Boo Hoo…Use to be 2.50 a car load..and could mom get all those neighbors and cousins in!!! Take our bath, wear our pajamas, and ride the little train, buy one of those bug burners, and hook that speaker up….don’t know if I ever saw any endings, but what a wonderful, simple summer, early fall night. So how much acreage do you need for a drive-in?
Joanne I was wondnering the same thing. Talk about a simple quality of life item.
Yous story is incorrect. I spoke to the owner three times.
Once to ask, the details and once yes to ask about Press because it matters if you appear to have a release ready depending on print, radio or TV. I was very clear that I had an event in NCC on Saturday and I did not know if I could be there at 5 PM.
We talked again and I was told the event was postponed from Saturday to Sunday which made it unlikely I could make the event.
Why is everyone a liar when it comes to dealing with you, Mike? No one has their story straight except for you. It’s you vs. the world, I guess.
I know, I know, nothing I say matters to you, blah, blah, blah. Point is, you still read this comment.
What’s the deal again? The owners are losing their lease this November?
Unimproved land is not selling well, especially at the drive-ins location. I find it hard to believe that the landlord is asking for too-high an increase when there is no other tenant available (probably).
That place is awesome! You used to be able to get there two hours early with a hibache and cook burgers before the movie. They cut that out; smoke, and the snack bar has to make a living. There are probably several people around who lost their virginity there. Maybe we could set up a “Save the Drive-In” fund based on our rally cry: “Save Palin’s Genetic Promotion Location”.