The Last Drive-In : County’s Only Outdoor Theater Makes a Romantic Last Stand

The flame is flickering out on Ventura County’s long and storied romance with the drive-in theater.

One by one, the “passion pits” have shut down, usually to make way for shopping centers or houses.

For decades, drive-ins were the destination of teenagers looking for some privacy on hot summer nights and a place where families could enjoy a picnic and cheap entertainment.

Those days could soon be gone.

After 34 years, the Simi Valley drive-in failed to open this summer. That leaves Ventura’s three-screen Pacific 101 as the county’s lone survivor of a plague that wiped out drive-ins all over the state.

Since September of 1996, six drive-ins have closed in Southern California, leaving moviegoers in Santa Barbara County, Orange County and the San Fernando Valley--regions whose suburban terrain was once dotted with outdoor screens--without a single drive-in. Only five drive-ins shine on in Los Angeles County.

The closures force drive-in devotees to make pilgrimages to recapture fond drive-in experiences from their youth.

“We bring the kids all the way down from Santa Barbara because they’ve all closed up there. We’ll have nowhere to go if this shuts down,” said Michelle Brown, a Santa Barbara mother of three.

Brown and her daughters were eagerly queuing up for the wide assortment of treats offered at the 101’s blinding orange and yellow ‘60s-style, Formica-rich concession center.

They planned to load up with popcorn, candy and drinks before joining the rest of the family in their Suburban to watch “Hercules.”

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Brown said her 5- and 7-year-old daughters like the drive-in much more than the indoor theater.

“They like to be in the car and move around and talk when they want to--the same thing I liked when I was a kid,” she said.

Unfortunately, for nostalgic filmgoers like Brown, the 101’s days may also be numbered. Although theater employees say they have a small number of regular customers, and attendance is slightly up from last year, they are facing a losing battle.

Theater owners say drive-in revenues can’t even come close to the money that indoor “megaplexes” can generate.

“It isn’t that it’s just not very profitable, it’s not profitable, period,” said Neil Haltrecht, Pacific Theaters’ real estate vice president. “People get nostalgic and say that they want the drive-ins to stay open, but if enough people went to them, they wouldn’t be closed.”

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Haltrecht said that an “above average” drive-in will bring in about $500,000 a year, while a megaplex can take in more than $15 million annually.

Pacific Theaters’ four drive-ins are the most of any one owner in the Southland. But the company closed four other area drive-ins in the past year, choosing to turn the properties into Wal-Marts and megaplexes.

“Closing usually has little to do with the consumers--it’s about the real estate,” said Jim Kozak, spokesman for the North Hollywood-based National Assn. of Theater Owners. “They [the drive-ins] used to be in the middle of nowhere; now they’re on prime real estate.”

Megaplexes are not only devouring the land that drive-ins once occupied, they are also stealing outdoor customers. The grainy speakers and smudgy windshields at drive-ins can’t compete with the digital sound and sharp picture in modern theaters, industry experts say.

And videos now provide many of the family attractions that once made the drive-in unique.

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“For the working-class folks who used to go to the drive-ins, video rentals have been the main replacement,” said Bob Simpson, Pacific’s general manager for seasonal drive-ins. “Videos give families the cheap, comfortable, kid-friendly entertainment that wasn’t available when drive-ins were at their peak.”

Drive-in fans at the 101 grudgingly accept that point. But they stay devoted, insisting there is just no way to duplicate that drive-in atmosphere.

“It’s just so much more cozy--you can bring your lounge chairs and blankets and food and have a picnic,” said Rosilee Cain, who drove all the way from North Hollywood with her son and grandson to see “George of the Jungle.”

Cain added that she had sentimental teenage memories of sneaking into drive-ins, and so did just about everyone else she knew.

Theater employees say teenagers pull the same shenanigans as they always have--there’s just fewer of them these days.

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“We still have kids trying to sneak in, but it’s pretty easy to catch ‘em. If there’s a young woman driving in alone, or if the car is riding really low, there’s probably a guy in the trunk,” said Oxnard resident and 101 assistant manager Maria DeLeon.

The 101’s manager, Gilda Karchhoff, said that on an average weekend night, ushers catch about 10 sneaks but let them stay if they agree to pay. Karchhoff said the most people she ever saw hiding in a trunk was three adult men.

“The car was just about touching the ground,” she said.

Rules are pretty loose at the 101, where Karchhoff’s motto is to “just let people have fun as long as it doesn’t bother anyone else.”

Occasionally, Karchhoff said, customers do get a little carried away. “One night these guys were drinking and they took out their bowling ball and started rolling it down the lot.”

And yes, couples still smooch.

“There’s people in here doing stuff that they should only be doing at home,” said usher Kwesi Parker, with a knowing smile.

Parker said that he doesn’t disturb patrons who keep to themselves. However, every now and then he has to break up the fun. “One night, there was a girl and a guy out by the dumpster--I told them to get a motel,” Parker said.

Teenagers recently viewing “Men in Black” at the 101 said the make-out-and-drink stereotype of drive-ins doesn’t really apply any more. Like the adults, they seemed to be there more out of childhood nostalgia than anything else.

“The drive-ins are a timeless experience. We used to go to the one in Newbury Park when we were kids,” said Bridgette Carroll, 16, and Chrissy Ortega, 17. The Newbury Park teens watched the film from the back of a pickup truck. “We are coming here more for the novelty of it--we didn’t even know what movie was playing.”

According to Ventura County old-timers, the drive-in was one of the few places teenagers could go after sundown.

“We used to go put a dollar of gas in the tank and cruise Main Street, go drag racing, or go to the drive-in--there wasn’t much else,” said 58-year-old Ventura resident Kenny Duttweiller.

There have been at least five drive-ins in the county, including the 101 in Ventura, Oxnard’s Skyview, the Santa Paula Drive-In, the Simi Drive-In and the Thousand Oaks Drive-In in Newbury Park.

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Most of them closed in the ‘80s, and until this summer, the Simi and the 101 were the holdouts. The past two years, Pacific Theaters cut the 101’s fall-through-spring weekend schedule and opens only between Memorial and Labor days.

The Simi’s downfall was lack of attendance, according to Metro Theaters spokesperson Bill Hughes. “It was just tough to pay for film rental when there was no one there.”

Hughes said there was no public outcry over the closing and that not one person called to protest. “It just went quietly into the night.”

It is not surprising that drive-ins are in their twilight in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Drive-ins have gradually declined since they hit their peak in the ‘60s. But now, Southern California drive-ins are on the verge of extinction.

Aside from a curious blip in 1991--when the number of drive-ins stayed steady--they have shut down across the country at a rate of about seven a year, falling from 2,811 in 1986 to 826 last year, said Kozak.

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Drive-in aficionados across the country are bemoaning the disappearance of a piece of Americana. In the past five years, several books on drive-in history have appeared, the most recent focusing on drive-in mural art and architecture.

As many as five drive-in loyalist groups have developed Web pages to voice their displeasure about closings. While things look bleak for drive-ins, disciples have not given up hope entirely.

“People come in here all the time and say, ‘Please don’t close, we love this place so much,’ but we’re not sure what will happen,” said Karchhoff, who is encouraging customers to contact Pacific Theaters to express support for the 101.

Staff writer Kate Folmar contributed to this story.