By Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell
KANSAS! Magazine
Summer 2003

After World War II, drive-in theaters were almost as common as wheat fields in Kansas. These venues allowed Americans an affordable evening of uniting their love for automobiles with their adoration for Hollywood. 

In the 1970s and '80s many drive-ins were a casualty of advances made in home entertainment technology and suburban sprawl, but drive-in theaters are making a comeback. 

"The drive-in was the thing to do back in the 1950s and '60s," said West Neal, owner of the Boulevard Drive-in in Kansas City, Kan. "There were no organized sports, very little television, and no VCRs, we turned away hundreds of people every night." 

Neal began his career working as a utility man at the Boulevard shortly after it opened in 1950. In the 1970s, Neal operated the Boulevard Drive-in on the south side of Kansas City, Kan., and later the State Drive-in on the north side of town, which was originally called the Kansas Drive-In. The State Drive-in closed when a landfill opened nearby in the early 1990s. 

Neal bought the Boulevard Drive-in in 1993 because he said he realized that most good things cycle in popularity and he knew that drive-in theaters would make a comeback. 

The United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association reports that in the heyday of the drive-in theater in 1958, there were about 4,000 throughout the country. Now there are less than 500-nine of those in Kansas. But 16 were built in the U.S. in the 1990s and 40 re-opened, including the Pageant Drive-in in Medicine Lodge. 

Several of the drive-ins that have closed in Kansas now have other buildings sitting on their former locations. According to Bill Shaffer, who aired documentaries on Kansas Drive-ins on public television KTWU-11 in Topeka, the Tals Drive-in, located in Coffeyville, was closed in the late 1990s to make way for a school building. In Topeka, the old Chief Drive-in marquee still stands as a nostalgic landmark at a Wal-Mart. 

Neal says the Boulevard Drive-in has competed successfully with indoor multiplexes in a large metropolitan area because he runs popular first run movies, maintains the grounds, and installs state-of-the-art equipment. 

For several years in the 1990s through 2002, the Boulevard Drive-in also was the only first-run theater operating in Kansas City, Kan. That helped Neal develop a loyal following with residents who wanted to contribute to their local economy. 

The Boulevard Drive-in has become a meeting place for extended family and friends, particularly on weekend nights during the summer, which are frequently sold out. Patrons are allowed to grill their own food in a designated section of theater, although Neal says he depends on concession stand sales to break even each night. 

The Boulevard Drive-in was the first in the country to install digital sound. Drive-in patrons can now listen to the movies on one of the 600 traditional speakers in state-of-the-art sound, or they can tune into the show on their radios. 

The current screen at the Boulevard was installed in 1971 after the first screen blew down during a storm, but Neal spends thousands of dollars having it painted every few years. "This helps make the picture as good as it is in the indoor theaters" Neal said. He also spends thousands a year trimming and maintaining the tree-lined drive into the theater. 

Besides daily maintenance, Neal has cleaned the drive-in nine times in the past ten years due to floods from nearby Turkey Creek. 

When drive-ins began to see a decline in attendance in the 1970s, many, like the Boulevard, started looking for additional sources of revenue, and swap-n-shops were born. The Boulevard Swap-n-Shop is each weekend morning during the summer. 

Jim Quick, who has worked at drive-ins since 1965, manages the Starlite Drive-in, the only twin-screen drive-in left in Kansas. Built in 1974 on the location of the former Rainbow Drive-in in Wichita, the Starlite Drive-in Theatre can accommodate more than 1,200 cars. 

Quick said that both sides rarely sell out, but he has seen a rise in interest over the past few years, especially from families. Many of the drive-ins that have survived, he added, have done so by playing newer movies and getting away from the B-movie, horror flick genre the drive-ins became known for in their early days. 

Other changes in the business are less noticeable to the patrons, but can cause headaches for drive-in owners and operators. "When many of the drive-ins began closing, there were fewer and fewer places to purchase drive-in products such as speakers and lights," Quick said. 

Another of the challenges many drive-in owners face is the fear that once they are no longer able to operate them, their drive-ins will succumb to lucrative offers for the land. 

Neal, 74, is hoping his son will eventually take over the business. Neal has been offered top dollar to sell the Boulevard for the land but said he doesn't know if his family shares his same passion for the drive-in. "Money isn't good to me, I've got everything I like right here," he said. "If I sold today, I would die tomorrow."