Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Carlisle Drive-in


As long as I'm talking about drive-ins, here's a photo of one in Lorain County that I shot back in the spring of 1990 – 20 years ago. It's the old Carlisle Drive-in on Oberlin - Elyria Road in Carlisle Township. It was located out in the country, just west of the Elyria Country Club.

According to several articles in the Chronicle-Telegram at the time, the 550-car drive-in was built on 62 acres back in 1949 for the sum of $200,000. It closed in 1985, mainly due to competition from cable TV and the growing popularity of video rentals. It was the second drive-in theater in Lorain County, after the Lorain Drive-in.

Eventually, Browning-Ferris Industries, the company that owned the property, deemed the old drive-in to be an eyesore and decided to tear it down around late June 1990.

I had stumbled upon the old drive-in while shooting around Lorain County, and really liked the lettering on the 18-foot-high marquee. I was planning to go back and try to get a better shot (the late afternoon sun made it difficult on the day I was there) and I was disappointed to read that it was being demolished.

I'm sorry I never had an opportunity to see a movie there.

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UPDATE (February 5, 2015)

I received an email in October 2015 from Dennis Thompson. Dennis wrote, "I know you did a couple of stories about the old Carlisle Drive-in, torn down in 1990. I happened to be driving by when they started to demolish it, and I snapped a few last photos."

Here is Dennis' photo (below).

Thanks for sharing, Dennis! It's good to see it in color.

3 comments:

Ken said...

This is a nice picture. Looks kind of like Roman ruins. A melancholy relic of a vanished greatness.

James said...

I watched movies at The Carlisle from around 1963 or so until around 1978. It was a really neat place to see a movie and I don't think many drive ins had that kind of Art Deco epic stone facade.....It's a damned shame that it's gone..

I saw "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", "Bus Stop","Dumbo", "The Nutty Professor", "Easy Rider", "Up In Smoke" and many more there..I even snuck in once or twice in a car trunk..The food and popcorn at the snack bar was delicious and it was really nice being out there in the country on a cool Ohio summer's night. It just had a great vibe......

As the years passed I drive past and see it fade away little by little.............

Unknown said...

This is Mike. I took a few pictures there in the summer of 1986 & 1987. At the time I had no idea it just closed at the time I was taking those pics. I posted most of them on the Cinema Treasures website. Did get some clocse-ups of the sign. :) Enjoy.