I read recently that in 1950 there were 2,200 drive-in movie theatres in North America; a year earlier, in 1949, there had only been 1,100. Today, the reverse trend is happening, with drive-in theatres disappearing faster than snow in the tropics.
Now, many of you will be familiar with drive-in movie theatres as the place young people would go in order to not watch movies (if you follow my drift...). But plenty of people have other sorts of happy memories of youthful hi-jinks at drive-in theatres, many involving smuggling friends into the theatre in their car trunk or other similarly kooky antics. One of my favorite memories of the drive-in is the old 'wiener in the bun' ad for the concession with its kitschy double entendre.
Currently, the Greater Vancouver area has been without a drive-in movie theatre for two years following the closure of Cloverdale's Hilltop Drive-in at the end of summer, 2003. With sky-rocketing land prices and development rampant, the owner of the Hilltop was forced to re-locate - and it hasn't been an easy task. Finding a new place was chore number one; gaining all the necessary permits was the next step. Then came the unexpected - while erecting the new screen, a problem caused the whole structure to collapse. A lengthy wait followed as the insurance companies duked it out, but now the Lower Mainland's only drive-in movie theatre is about to open: the Twilight Drive-in, located on Fraser Highway and 260th Street in Aldergrove, is preparing to open in time for the BC Day long weekend.
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