Wednesday, August 20, 2003

By Jill Cueni-Cohen

When was the last time you went to a drive-in movie?

It's a question that can evoke fond memories of sitting in a car on a starlit night, watching a movie that's a hundred times larger than life.

George Welsh and Mark Frey want to bring those memories back to the North Hills.

They hope to open a three-screen, 500-car drive-in theater in April in West Deer that will show classic movies combined with themed events, such as pajama parties and trivia contests. If everything comes together, the drive-in would join only one other still open in the Pittsburgh area.

For Welsh, it would be the achievement of a longtime goal.

As a former owner of Wexford's Starlite Drive-In in Pine, Welsh laments the day he was forced to close the 40-year-old theater in 1989. He and his wife, Cindi, had bought the theater in 1987 and operated it as a family business.

Welsh said he was told that he could buy the 12 acres off Route 19 for $1.5 million or vacate within 30 days. "We didn't own the property, and we had to close," he said. "Northway Christian Community Church paid $1.2 million for it."

Using the concession stand equipment from the drive-in, Welsh opened a convenience store called Welsh's Starlite Drive-in Deli in 1990 in Hampton, but he never stopped looking for an opportunity to revive the real thing.

"I made a commitment to myself and my patrons that I would continue to look for land that was zoned properly and affordable enough to open another drive-in," said Welsh, 55, of Hampton.

Welsh and Frey met each other through their sons in 1993, and their mutual interest in classic cars and movies led to discussions about drive-ins and about forming a partnership.

"We looked at properties and decided if it would make sense to open one or not," said Frey, 50, of Saxonburg, senior vice president of engineering at Tollgrade Communications in Cheswick. He said the two conducted a grass-roots survey to find out whether deli customers and friends would like to see the Starlite return to the North Hills. After acquiring 1,500 names on a petition, the search began in earnest.

"We must have seen half-a-dozen properties that looked good but always fell through," Frey said. In October, a 31-acre former strip mine on Route 910 in West Deer caught their attention. "It was level property, zoned special use and had no rezoning requirements. It was perfect."

Overcoming obstacles

Neighbors of the property, however, worried about noise and pollution and began a petition of their own. In December, West Deer supervisors tied 3-3 on whether to allow the drive-in. Welsh and Frey subsequently addressed neighbors' concerns, and the supervisors in January gave it unanimous approval.

Getting the township OK proved to be only their first hurdle. They had hoped to open on Memorial Day.

"Memorial Day came and went because [environmental agencies and state Department of Transportation permits] weren't officially in place," Welsh said. "They were applied for, but at the end of that time period, we couldn't get started." He said that 95 percent of the required permits have been obtained.

Another challenge that's proved especially difficult has been finding money for the $1.5 million venture.

"The saddest thing was when we were trying to get funding for the drive-in, I kept running into wet-behind-the-ears bankers who called it a drive-through, because they had never been to one," Welsh said. "I told them it's not fast-food; it's something you have to go and experience to understand." He added that he and Frey also had a third partner who pulled out.

As bank after bank called their plan a "speculative venture," Welsh and Frey decided to turn to private investors instead.

Although they continue to seek private funding, they said they're now financially prepared to buy the West Deer property for about $650,000.

They hope to complete the purchase of the land by Sept. 30.

Welsh said the drive-in would use about 11 acres. "Another acre will be designed into the area for a miniature golf course and a playground. Right now, the concept is that it will be an RIDC-type park with family entertainment, instead of businesses or factories."

The new theater, which they plan to call the Starlite, would use the latest technology in FM stereo radio transmission. "There won't be any speaker stands with that little speaker rack," Welsh said. "There's the nostalgia aspect -- I have 500 of them left over from the original Starlite -- but you just don't need it. The sound system on today's minivan uses six or four speakers, which is better. Being able to offer three different screens on the same night gives [movie-goers] a choice."

Cathy Sopko, administrative assistant for West Deer, said the drive-in plans have sparked the public's interest.

"We've been getting a lot of calls from people wondering when the drive-in will open. The residents out here are anxious for it to happen," she said.

"People who come into my convenience store are so excited about the drive-in," Welsh said. "This is something that we're doing for the community and for our futures, and we will never sell the land."

Why did they close?

Welsh blames lucrative development deals for the bulldozing of many drive-in theaters from the late 1960s through the '80s.

"For example, Greater Pittsburgh Drive-In on Route 30 is now a Wal-Mart, the Ranalli Drive-In that was on Route 8 is now a Wal-Mart, the Brookside Drive-In on Big Sewickley Creek Road is now a nursery, and the Camp Horne Drive-In is now a Giant Eagle and Home Depot. You don't have to be an Einstein to figure it out," he said, adding, "I want to be the first person in history who tore down a Kmart and put up a drive-in."

Rick Glaus owns the Dependable Drive-In in Moon, which opened in 1959 and is the last remaining outdoor theater in the Pittsburgh area.

"The business is not what it used to be," Glaus said. "You now have one drive-in where you had almost 40."

Glaus believes that development is only part of the reason all those theaters closed. Lack of demand also was a factor.

"We used to be open 52 weeks a year, then 35, and now 13 weeks," he said, adding that business is continuing to decline. "Right now we're packed, but there are so many nights when no one's here. Bad weather affects us, and business slows down in the fall. Used to be ... most schools started after Labor Day, but schools now starting in August shortens our season. People have this impression that the drive-ins are coming back, but it's not their time."

Glaus added that movie-goers once bundled up with a rented car heater and watched the movies in winter, but that was before the multiscreen indoor theaters were built, making winter drive-ins obsolete.

"A drive-in has one showing a night ... I have one chance to get you. At an indoor, you have five. It's all about making the most out of the piece of property."

Even so, Glaus is optimistic that the Starlite will become a rare success. "I'm sure George will do well where he's going."

The industry was once burdened with a reputation for being able to offer only B-movies, and in the late '70s, many drive-ins showed X-rated films, but Welsh said today's drive-ins offer family-friendly entertainment and show first-run movies..

The new Starlite plans to offer two films a night for $8 per adult, $4 for ages 4 to 12. Children younger than 4 can watch the movie -- or sleep -- for free.

Movie-goers who use wheelchairs can sit wherever they want at a drive-in, Welsh noted. And as an added bonus, they and their drivers will get in for free at the new Starlite, something Welsh offered at the original Starlite, making it an attractive form of entertainment for nursing home residents.

"You can take the dog, the baby -- everyone. And if you're on a tight budget, you can make your own popcorn, pack your own picnic and enjoy the atmosphere without having to pay a baby sitter," Welsh said.

Welsh plans to show "Young Einstein" and "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids," on opening night of the new Starlite because they were shown at the original Starlite the night the theater closed.

"To see movies you grew up with on a screen 54-feet wide, longer than a tractor trailer and 27-feet high -- higher than your house -- that gives children a perspective you can't buy. Any movie you can rent won't give you that effect."

Jill Cueni-Cohen is a freelance writer.

E-mail this story   Print this story