One of Idaho’s last drive-in theaters is closing. Its beginnings and why one woman says there’s a local resurgence

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Published astatine 3:03 pm, July 28, 2024

Teton Vu Drive-in astatine 1114 North Yellowstone Highway successful Rexburg will permanently adjacent successful August. It’s 1 of nan fewer drive-ins near successful nan state. Jennifer Spalding pinch Motor Vu Drive-in successful Idaho Falls discusses nan early of nan manufacture successful nan video above. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

REXBURG – The thought of Teton Vu Drive-in being replaced by lodging is almost excessively overmuch for Shanna Anderson to bare.

The 71-year-old Idaho Falls female is nan girl of nan Rexburg theater’s original owner. On July 18, nan business announced connected its Facebook page its past time of cognition would beryllium August 24. Kuhn Properties precocious bought nan onshore and is awaiting nan city’s support for a 410-unit lodging improvement connected nan tract to beryllium completed complete nan adjacent 3 years.

Anderson tells EastIdahoNews.com nan 8-acre batch astatine 1114 North Yellowstone Highway is wherever she spent each summertime arsenic a kid. It’s present wherever her begetter taught her a activity ethic and really to service customers.

Although nary 1 successful her family ended up taking complete nan business, she’s happy nan drive-in has endured for decades nether different owners. It makes her sad knowing it will soon beryllium each gone.

“It breaks my heart,” Anderson says done tears. “Here are my puerility memories from a mini woman to an big erstwhile I went disconnected to college. This is wherever I earned my money to beryllium capable to spell to college.”

RELATED | Rexburg drive-in permanently closing aft 75 years. Here’s what’s happening pinch nan property

Nationwide, location are astir 300 drive-in theaters still successful operation. Teton Vu is 1 of six drive-ins crossed nan state. When it closes, only 2 will stay successful eastbound Idaho: Idan-Ha Drive-in successful Soda Springs and Motor Vu Drive-in successful Idaho Falls.

Cameron Andrews has operated Teton Vu since 2009. Though nan seasonal cognition has been a profitable venture, he says it was only a matter of clip earlier it closed.

“When we started this 15 years ago, we thought we’d beryllium fortunate to get 5 years. We knew afloat good it was premier improvement spot and that was nan inevitable end,” Andrews says. “You could waste retired each nighttime each summertime and it still wouldn’t support up pinch nan worth of nan property.”

Idaho is 1 of nan fastest-growing states and nan request for much lodging successful Rexburg and elsewhere continues to increase. Still, galore person expressed disappointment pinch nan abundance of lodging developments successful a municipality that was erstwhile a small, agrarian community.

“Rexburg has turned into a accordant building of apartments and/or townhomes! There is nary longer thing to entice you to (come here),” 1 female writes connected Facebook.

Steven Hansen, 1 of aggregate investors pinch H2 Venture Properties — nan institution moving pinch nan spot proprietor to create nan onshore — acknowledges nan theater’s worth to nan organization and he’s moving pinch Andrews to springiness it a “nice sendoff” and incorporated elements of nan theatre into nan caller project.

Though Anderson appreciates nan gesture, it does small to alleviate her sorrow complete nan nonaccomplishment of an iconic business.

“It makes maine sad because it was a awesome point that families could do together,” she says. “I conscionable wish it would instrumentality around.”

The commencement of nan drive-in nationwide and successful eastbound Idaho

Richard Hollingshead introduced nan drive-in conception nationwide erstwhile he opened a theatre successful New Jersey successful 1933. It quickly took off, and led to a emergence successful akin theaters crossed nan state complete nan adjacent 20 years. By nan 1960s, location were much than 4,000 nationwide.

In 1947, Hugo Jorgensen and J.H. Moran opened nan first drive-in theatre successful Idaho. Though it’s changed hands aggregate times and sat vacant for 11 years earlier nan existent owners bought it successful 2019, Motor Vu Drive-in astatine 2095 Yellowstone Highway successful Idaho Falls is still successful cognition today.

Motor Vu spokeswoman Jennifer Spalding says it was America’s car civilization and nan societal facet of cruising pinch friends that popularized nan drive-in concept.

“Cars became truthful important to Americans. I deliberation it was conscionable an hold of that emotion and what that equals pinch freedom,” Spalding says. “We’re besides talking astir an era pinch drive-in restaurants, jukeboxes and large blockbuster movies. All of those things mixed to make drive-in theaters really fun.”

Opening Teton Vu

From an early age, Anderson says her father, Ralph Prestwich, was an entrepreneur. He opened a work position successful Idaho Falls astatine property 18. He hired group to tally it for him truthful he could attraction connected his liking successful mobility pictures.

Sometime during nan 1930s, Prestwich launched a movie projection task wherever he would rent films and big movie screenings successful communities from Lima, Montana to McCammon, Idaho. Movies were connected movie canisters astatine nan clip and weren’t readily disposable for location viewing, Anderson explains, which made it a unsocial idea.

Prestwich collaborated pinch C.D. Cousins successful 1950 to unfastened Sky Vy Drive-in connected nan southbound broadside of Idaho Falls. The duo ran it for astir 10 years earlier Prestwich opened Teton Vu successful Rexburg, according to Anderson.

Sky Vu permanently closed successful 2015. An RV parkland opened astatine that location past year.

RELATED | Luxury RV parkland opening successful Idaho Falls

Teton Vu first opened successful 1958, Anderson says, and it was nan spot to beryllium connected Friday and Saturday night.

She has fond memories of picking up trash and placing orders successful nan snack barroom arsenic a small girl.

“I retrieve nan first point I sold. It was a popsicle and I made a mistake. I thought it was 5 cents but it was 6 cents. I sewage a speech astir really I needed to cognize nan prices, and I needed to cognize really to adhd and subtract and do it successful my head,” says Anderson.

She besides recalls going to Salt Lake pinch her dada to book films for nan summertime and nan canisters being delivered to nan theater.

“It came successful a awesome big, metallic container pinch a grip connected it and there’d beryllium 4 reels successful it,” she says.

Running nan movie done nan projector was an creation that required attraction to detail.

“There were 2 projectors. When that reel was almost finished, location would beryllium dots crossed nan bottommost of nan surface that would show you it was clip to get nan adjacent 1 fresh to go,” Anderson remembers.

The thought was to make nan modulation from reel to reel arsenic seamless arsenic possible.

When nan reels were done playing, she remembers taking it to nan activity chair and manus rolling it backmost to nan beginning.

In those days, location were speakers successful nan parking batch truthful customers could perceive nan movie successful their car. Often, group stole nan speakers. Anderson says her dada sewage successful nan wont of penning down nan licence sheet numbers of each conveyance truthful he could show rule enforcement who was parked there.

“Almost ever nan speaker would beryllium returned,” says Anderson. “He worked very hard, and he made judge things looked pristine. The rocks you spot retired front, nan bars and paneling connected nan fence, nan summons booth and chains by nan entranceway were painted each year.”

RELATED | Museum of Rexburg invites organization to 4th yearly Teton Dam flood commemoration

Anderson remembers seeing a activity of h2o flood nan theatre erstwhile nan Teton Dam collapsed successful 1976. The surface and astir of nan obstruction survived, but a tractor Prestwich utilized to groom nan grounds “ended up connected nan railroad tracks” and was destroyed.

There was extended harm to nan snack bar, which was later remodeled.

The title connected nan marquee astatine nan clip of nan flood, “The Way We Were,” stayed up for a agelong clip while nan theatre was closed for repairs, Anderson says. With each nan changes that took spot during that time, Anderson now views nan title pinch a consciousness of irony.

In 1986, aft 28 years successful operation, Prestwich decided to retire. None of his kids wanted to return complete nan business truthful he sold it. It went done respective owners initially. Andrews bought it from nan Vail Family successful 2009.

The decline, resurgence and early of nan drive-in

Drive-in theaters person knowledgeable respective periods of diminution complete nan years. The first 1 happened successful nan 1970s during an lipid crisis.

In 1973, OPEC imposed an embargo against nan U.S., which importantly reduced nan lipid supply. Oil prices quadrupled, which had a drastic effect connected nan remainder of nan system arsenic well. People were driving less, arsenic a result.

The invention of nan VCR during nan 1980s and nan accessibility of VHS tapes led to different decline.

“In nan 1970s and 80s, drive-in theaters became much adult-oriented, showing scary films. There was a batch little of a crowd, and I deliberation that led to them closing down,” Spalding says.

During nan integer gyration successful nan early 2000s, Spalding says galore theatre owners couldn’t spend to modulation to a integer projector, which led to different important diminution and galore drive-in theaters permanently closed.

Motor Vu closed successful 2008 for that reason, Spalding says. It sat vacant until her relatives, Ryan and Linda Rumsey, bought it successful 2019.

Then successful 2020, Spalding says nan COVID-19 pandemic led to a resurgence of drive-in theaters successful immoderate areas.

“During nan pandemic, group were really quiet for that nostalgia and fellowship pinch different people,” says Spalding. “It waned aft a mates of years successful immoderate areas. It’s only accrued astatine Motor Vu.”

RELATED | Motor Vu Drive-In moving toward summertime 2020 reopening

Andrews has seen continual maturation and liking from nan organization successful nan 15 years he’s owned Teton Vu, including during nan pandemic. The truth that it’s remained profitable is simply a nonstop consequence of nan community’s support.

“People admit that it’s a small, hometown business, and it was tally that way,” Andrews says. “It was successful because nan organization sewage down it.”

The only logic it’s closing now is because nan spot owners are yet fresh to move guardant pinch a improvement project, which has been successful nan useful for years.

Andrews expresses gratitude to nan developers for honoring nan theater’s history.

“I’ve really been impressed. They’re not looking to conscionable level nan drive-in and move on. They admit nan history and its worth successful nan organization complete nan past 66 years,” says Andrews. “They’re uncovering ways to incorporated parts of nan original surface into nan architecture (of their development).”

He’s looking guardant to celebrating pinch nan organization astatine an upcoming event. Details will beryllium announced erstwhile they’ve been finalized.

Anderson feels nan determination to move guardant pinch nan lodging task is simply a mediocre solution erstwhile location is overwhelming support for keeping nan theatre successful operation.

“Why return distant history that was positive?” she says.

“Please do not declare nan caller owners attraction astir (its legacy) if each they are going to do is build MORE apartments/townhomes,” different female posted connected Facebook. “If they did care, they would revamp and reconstruct this astonishing (business) truthful that our organization tin proceed to bask … a spot wherever precious memories person been made for 7 decades.”

From nan beginning, Spalding says drive-in theaters person ever been small, locally-owned ventures wherever families spell to bask an inexpensive nighttime retired together, which is why they’re truthful appealing.

Some foretell that drive-in theaters crossed nan state will yet dice arsenic communities proceed to grow. But successful eastbound Idaho, Spalding says nan support for a drive-in remains strong.

Motor Vu has served nan organization successful unsocial ways successful nan past respective years, Spalding says, and her family plans to proceed moving it for arsenic agelong arsenic group will support it.

“I person a batch of dream for nan early of nan Motor Vu. We’ll support responding to what nan organization wants and needs. I dream we tin enactment unfastened for a really agelong time,” she says.