Cumberland Drive-In facts for kids
Cumberland Drive-In Marquee
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| Address | 3290 Ritner Highway Newville, Pennsylvania, 17241 United States |
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| Coordinates | 40°8′18″N 077°21′50″W / 40.13833°N 77.36389°W |
| Operator | The Mowery Family |
| Type | Drive-In |
| Capacity | 400 Vehicles |
| Current use | In Operation |
| Opened | 1952 |
| Years active | 61 as of 2013 |
| Website | |
| http://81fun.com/drivein_home/ | |
The Cumberland Drive-In Theatre is an outdoor movie theater. It is located in Newville, Pennsylvania. This special theater can hold up to 400 cars. It has a huge movie screen, about 45 by 96 feet! The same family has run it for over 70 years.
Contents
Discovering the Drive-In's Past
The Cumberland Drive-In Theatre first opened on August 1, 1952. Donn Mowery started it. In 2012, it celebrated its 60th birthday! The very first movie shown there was Annie Get Your Gun.
How Drive-Ins Became Popular
This theater was built just before drive-in movies became super popular. At their peak, there were over 4,000 drive-in theaters in the United States. That was about 25% of all movie theaters! Today, the Cumberland Drive-In is one of only a few hundred left.
Where the Drive-In Is Located
The theater's spot is great because it's easy to reach. It's close to major highways like Interstate 81 and U.S. Route 11. Even though it's near busy roads, the drive-in is in a quiet area. This means the skies are dark, which is perfect for watching movies! After another local drive-in closed, Cumberland became the only one for many towns nearby.
Fun for Families at the Drive-In
The Cumberland Drive-In Theatre has more than just movies. It also has a snack bar with yummy treats. There's a big playground area too, where kids can play before the movie starts. It's a very family-friendly place. Most movies shown are rated G, PG, or PG-13. Movies rated R usually play later in the season.
The Mowery Family's Businesses
The theater is one of four businesses owned by the Mowery family. They call their group "81Fun." Besides the Cumberland Drive-In, they also own Midway Skating, Midway Bowling, and Cumberland Golf Club.
Switching to Digital Movies
Around 2013, movie studios announced a big change. They decided to stop making movies on 35 millimeter film. Instead, they would only send movies digitally. This meant drive-ins had to buy new, expensive equipment. It cost about $75,000 for a theater to switch to digital.
Old Projectors and New Challenges
In 2013, the Cumberland Drive-In was still using its original movie projector from 1952! The only big change was in 2003. That's when they updated the lamps to powerful light bulbs.
Drive-in theaters like Cumberland don't make much money from ticket sales. Movie companies get most of that money. The main way they earn money is by selling food and drinks at the concession stand. Also, many drive-ins are only open in the late spring and summer. It could take many years for smaller theaters to pay for new digital equipment.
Saving the Drive-In
To stay open, the Cumberland Drive-In tried to win a special contest. Honda was giving away five digital projectors to help drive-ins. This project was called "Project Drive-In." Many drive-in theaters faced closing because of the digital switch. Honda asked people to vote for their favorite theater using social media.
In the past, new technologies like the internet or cable TV made fewer people visit drive-ins. But the digital switch was different. Movie companies were forcing theaters to change. Movies would no longer be available on film.
Jay Mowery, a co-owner, was hopeful. He said they wanted to keep offering family fun to the community. He knew converting to digital was important. He also mentioned that drive-ins are about more than just cars and movies. They are about people's happy memories from many years ago.
The Cumberland Drive-In opened in the spring of 2014. It was hard to find movies on film anymore. Many popular films, like Heaven Is for Real, were not available on film at all. Finally, on June 26, the drive-in made the big switch to digital. The first movies shown that night were Transformers: Age of Extinction and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
See also
- List of drive-in theaters
