It's been a dozen years since Delaware's drive-in movie era came to a close when Felton's Diamond State Drive-In on Route 13 showed its final double feature, "Bolt" and "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa."
By that time, the theater was an oddity, the last one standing after running from 1949 to 1986 before starting up again in 1995 for a final 13-year run.
Flash-forward to 2020 — an age of high back recliners in multiplexes with IMAX screens and unlimited comfort in home theaters — and everyone thought drive-ins were not only gone, but they were gone for good.
And then a global pandemic hit.
Three months after coronavirus swept across Delaware causing statewide shutdowns and social distancing, a quaint side effect has emerged: at least two new drive-in experiences will open this week with another possibly coming later this summer.
The 76ers Fieldhouse (401 Garasches Lane, Wilmington) will launch "Drive-In Movie Night" on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. with 1996's "Space Jam." Lefty's Alley & Eats (36450 Plaza Blvd., near Lewes) will join the fun Monday, June 22 with Sylvester Stallone's classic, "Rocky" at 9 p.m.
A planned third drive-in experience has been announced for the parking lot across from Penn Cinema Riverfront 14 + IMAX, although no start date has been revealed.
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Delaware movie theater historian Michael Nazarewycz, author of last year's "Historic Movie Theaters of Delaware" (The History Press, $21.99), is just as surprised as anyone that drive-ins have returned like the movie monster you were sure was dead.
"This is really cool. It's an ongoing, living history," Nazarewycz said of the new drive-in experiences.
In Delaware's history, there have been 15 drive-in theaters, starting in 1941 with a small-town drive-in in Delmar. The drive-in boom began in earnest eight years later, according to Nazarewycz, when the Brandywine Drive-In opened on Route 13 near New Castle, later renamed the Ellis Drive-In.
"Over the course of the next 38 years, the drive-in landscape changed and really came to an end in 1987 when Naamans Drive-In [near Claymont] closed," Nazarewycz said, adding that Diamond State's second, ill-fated run began in 1995.
The final films to fill the screen at Naamans Drive-in? "Hellraiser" and "House II: The Second Story."
Servers on skates
Lefty's is leaning into both nostalgia and the modern theater worlds with their drive-in offering, which is affixed to the side of their building facing Route 1.
Not only will it be showing retro films, but servers will be on roller skates bringing food and beverages right to your car.
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"We're going full-on retro," said Lefty's co-owner D.J. Hill, who had a roller skate instructor training his staff for three days last week.
It won't just be popcorn, soda and Milk Duds rolling up to your ride.
Lefty's has a new menu created by a new executive chef Paige van den Burg, getting back to their original theme of more interesting, elevated offerings and entrees with less pub grub.
The complete menu will be available, including everything from a cowboy-cut rib-eye steak to shrimp & spätzle. New vegan options will also make their debut. (No outside food or drinks are allowed for movie night, by the way.)
It will cost $25 per car with a maximum of six people from the same household in one vehicle for now, officials said. Gates open at 7 p.m. and the film starts two hours later.
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Tickets for each film can be purchased seven days prior to showtime starting at 8 a.m. at iloveleftys.com. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
The "Rocky" showing at 9 p.m. on Monday, June 22, will coincide with the grand reopening of the bowling alley and entertainment center at 60 percent capacity.
"We felt like everybody needed an all-American inspiration story at this point," said Hill, adding that there's also a new 40-seat outdoor patio for dining.
But don't expect only family-friendly movies at the family-friendly bowling alley. Hill said future titles could include "Psycho," "Carrie," "Animal House" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre."
Fieldhouse goes family-friendly
Up north at the 76ers Fieldhouse, officials have teamed up with Aston, Pennsylvania-based event services firm Eventions Productions and are selling tickets through wilmingtonpopup.com for their drive-in.
It costs $30 for up to four people per car. There is a $5 charge for each extra passenger.
Unlike Lefty's, movie fans will have to bring their own food and drink since the Fieldhouse is still closed. No restrooms will be available either. When the Fieldhouse reopens, the concessions and bathrooms will be open for movie night, officials said.
Instead of a mix of films, the Fieldhouse will bring family-friendly features to their portable screen since entertainment options are limited due to coronavirus, said Jai Wesley, director of the 76ers Fieldhouse.
"It was really important for us to give families something safe to do," said Wesley, who has seen the Fieldhouse's youth programs put on pause due to the pandemic.
Wesley is 29 and has never been to a drive-in movie himself, so it will be especially unique for him, like many of the younger movie fans who will be in attendance.
"It's crazy — I never really considered it, but it sounds cool," Wesley said with a laugh. "It will be interesting."
Could Penn Cinemas open a drive-in, too?
As for the third drive-in possibly opening in Delaware, there's more mystery than movie so far.
Penn Ketchum, owner of Penn Cinema Riverfront, has already opened a full-size movie screen in the parking lot of his sister theater in Lititz, Pennsylvania.
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On the May 18 edition of "The Penn Cinema Podcast," Ketchum teased the same option was headed to Wilmington soon, "once we know what we're doing."
"The next one probably that will be ready will be Wilmington and the Riverfront Development Corporation is really terrific," he said. "We've been in conversation with them. There's a really big open, empty parking lot across the street."
Ketchum did not respond to messages about the project.
When contacted last week, Riverfront Development Corporation officials said the drive-in theater is still being planned.
The future of the Delaware drive-in
While drive-ins died for many reasons — Nazarewycz points to changing land values, a growing dependence on exploitation films and the introduction of multiplexes — their future are complicated for many more, all stemming from COVID-19.
Depending on how much longer social distancing rules must be followed, the drive-ins may have a longer second life than you might expect, even as indoor movie theaters begin to reopen with limited capacity.
Nazarewycz expects there will be people like him who seek out the new drive-ins to both re-live their childhood and share a long-gone warm memory with their children. (He expects that his wife Judy and kids, Veronica,18, and Victoria, 23, will go to at least one drive-in with him as a family adventure.)
But will it really last? He's not so sure.
"I'm reluctant because it can become a fad — something that catches on born of extreme circumstances," said Nazarewycz, of Townsend, whose last drive-in experience in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1989 at the old 202 Drive-In. "Once life returns to normal, people may yearn to sit elbow-to-elbow and have that true communal experience."
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In the meantime, Nazarewycz is enjoying the resurrection of the American drive-in.
"It's strange. I thought that was it for drive-ins, at least in Delaware. Everyone thought fondly of them, but it just seemed like the business model wasn't there anymore, especially with the conveniences and technology of a walk-in theater," he said. "I really never thought drive-ins would come back, but I've studied enough to know that anything is possible and here we are."
Got a tip? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
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