Keno Drive-In was among last holdouts
By Sandra Landen Machaj
Correspondent
In 1949 the drive-in movie theater came to the Kenosha area with the opening of the Keno Drive-In, at 9102 Sheridan Rd., Pleasant Prairie.
Like elsewhere in the country, it became a popular place. Most residents of the area can recall having attended the theater at least once and for some it was a weekly event.
That remained an entertainment option for area residents until earlier this year.
The Keno Drive-In, like most others across the country, finally succumbed to changing viewing habits and digital technology that made drive-in theaters all but obsolete.
It was April of this year when the management of the Keno Drive-in posted a notice on their Facebook page that the drive-in would not re-open this year because the owner of the land the theater is located on decided not to renew the lease and was looking at other uses for the property.
With the closing of the Keno Drive-In, the last drive-in movie theater in Kenosha County, another bit of Americana disappeared.
Here’s a look back at the history of the drive-in theater.
On June 6, 1933, an event occurred that changed the way Americans enjoyed movies. On that date the first “park in” movie opened in New Jersey.
It was the creation of Richard Hollingshead who is said to have been looking for a more comfortable seat in which to enjoy the movie rather than the uncomfortable ones found in movie theaters of the time. Hollingshead patented his idea of a “park in” movie theater where one could enjoy the movie from the comfort of their automobile.
Park In Theaters, Inc had an initial investment of $30,000. The first movie played was “Wife Beware” starring Adolph Menjou. This initial theater remained in business for three years.
The theater was advertised as family entertainment. Costs were kept low with tickets costing 25 cents per person and no car was charged more than $1. Many of the theaters had a playground in front of the screen and some even had petting zoos to occupy the children.
The drawback to outdoor theaters was that the movie could not be projected until dark. The advantage was parents did not need to hire babysitters. After wearing themselves out on the playground, the children would fall asleep on the backseat after watching the cartoons. There were always cartoons followed by two movie features.
The “park in” movie became very popular and spread across the nation especially after World War II. And reached its peak popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s when they became known as drive-in movie theaters. Small theaters would hold as few as 40 cars while the largest featured parking for 2,500 autos. Most were in the 400 to 500 automobile range.
Early drive-ins had very poor sound systems. The first ones were three speakers manufactured by RCA Victor located near the screen. These did not carry the sound well and later were replaced by small speakers hung on the car window. The next change in sound was the ability to play the soundtrack through the automobile’s radio. Because it drained the auto’s battery some theaters recommended bringing a portable radio. Some theaters rented portable radios.
Drive-ins became an American icon with more than 5,000 found throughout the country in the 1950s and 1960s. By then it was not only families attending the outdoor movies but teenage couples looking for privacy. The theaters earned the nickname the passion pit.
The 1970s showed a sharp decrease in drive-in movie theaters. Land prices began to escalate, taxes increased and the growth in housing needs began to make continued use of the land for movies difficult to maintain. Movie viewing habits also changed. Indoor theaters with multiple screens had a variety of choices and were much more profitable than the drive-ins as they could be used year round.
Video rentals allowed people to stay home and watch their favorite movies in the comfort of their homes.
As the digital age matured, more pressure was placed on theater owners as the need to convert from the film reels of old to digital media created another expense for the operators. The conversion to digital came at a steep cost – as much as $100,000 – causing many theaters to fold.