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.
