MONROE, MI — Following its reopening on May 22, Memory Lane Drive-In Theater at 6501 N. Monroe has kept going with the support of its customers and the dream of staying open for years to come.
“Hopefully we can build and be better year after year from this point on,” said Sue Christy, who co-manages with her husband Keven, while Todd Williams remains the owner.
The Christies originally ran the Sundance Drive In in Oregon, Ohio, but decided not to renew their lease on the property to focus on the two other theaters they ran, which include Hickory Ridge Cinemas in Brunswick and Paramount Cinemas in Fremont.
However, when the Monroe community responded passionately to the announcement that Memory Lane would be closing, the couple decided to take over management to keep it open. Sue Christy retired after owning Susie’s Sweets & Eats in Monroe for 12 years, but came out of retirement because of her love of drive-in theaters.
“You know, nothing is better on a summer night than to be at a drive-in,” she said.
According to Sue Christy and Williams, the biggest contributing factors to keeping the theater open will be attendance and concession sales, the latter of which makes up the majority of income for drive-in theaters.
“We’re just asking that instead of going to any fast-food joint or a restaurant on the way here, skip those places and support us while you’re here,” Sue Christy said.
People who bring in their own food, she said, ultimately take profits away from the drive-in, as the studios whose movies they show get the majority of the ticket sales. If it’s to stay open, people will have to either buy the food or pay $20 for a food permit that lets them bring in their own.
“Nobody wants Memory Lane to close and I’m at the top of that list,” Williams said. He originally announced closing the theater because of low income, according to a Facebook post made on the theater’s page.
“In the last four years 35% of the remaining drive-ins in the United States have closed their doors forever, citing a combination of multiple reasons including but not limited to poor attendance, streaming, and lack of concessions support,” according to the post. “The last one is key, especially for drive-ins. Memory Lane has suffered the same fate for the same reasons.”
He used to attend drive-ins all the time as a kid in the 1970s, with around six of them to choose from near Lincoln Park, Michigan, where he grew up. Years later, he took his family on vacation and they visited the Midway Drive-In Theatre in Ravenna, Ohio. It had been around 15 to 20 years since he had been to one and he was struck by the experience.
“And when I went there, I guess it all came back to me, what it was and how much fun I’d had when I was a kid,” he said.
He thought it was something that shouldn’t have disappeared, so he spent years saving and planning until he could finally build the theater from scratch and open it in 2021.
The theater has showings on Thursday through Sunday evenings, with general admission costing $7 and $4 for any child between the ages of two and 11. Earliest showings start at 9:45 p.m.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: How Memory Lane Drive-In reopened its doors and how it can stay open
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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