The Exhibitor (1960)

Expanding The Drive-In Theatre Experienced Help In Redesigning Eliminates Costly Physical Mistakes ■ With the introduction of many new building materials, remodeling the drive-in theatre to create the new “out of this world” attractiveness does not present a major prob¬ lem for existing buildings. Prefinished woods, plastic products, and the many attractive new types of glass and glass wich patterns permit economical remodeling of interiors regardless of existing decor. There are so many new types of Vinyls, tiles and formica Type counter materials, including laminated plastics, that every concession coimter can sparkle with cleanliness and lend appeal to concession items. New laminated wood beams, stressed skin box beams, pre¬ cast streamlined concrete beams as well as new steel, aluminum extrusions, and plastics make the modern styled building extension possible without major expenditure. There is no reason for a drive-in theatre not offering comfort, quality projection, modern conces¬ sion service, and surroundings through these products that are programing Americans’ fu¬ ture today. Expanding car capacity while improving traffic flow is frequently as complicated as a mathematical equation. Still, like the equa¬ tion, there is usually a formula to find the answer. Since each drive-in theatre differs in many respects, there has, unfortimately, never been a fixed formula to solve expansion problems. A formula can usually be found, however, by careful study. A very unusual situation was handled uniquely by the Ballantyne Company this year, which proves “it can be done.” The situation: a hold back area, inadequate, causing complaint from highway officials (Fig. 3) and R. Bachman of Joliet, Illinois having the even more pressing problem of his com¬ munity population increasing with no place to put them in his drive-in theatre. By R. S. Ballantyne The HaUantyrie Company Even if the cars could be moved off the highway and into the drive-in area, a creek made it appear there was no way to increase ramps facilities to hold the cars. Also, if addi¬ tional capacity were possible, the concession would have to be remodeled to handle addi¬ tional patrons. Added to this was the problem of expanding rest room facilities which un¬ fortunately were already inadequate. Bachman called on The Ballantyne Com¬ pany for consultation and Ed Nelson was sent j to look over the situation. A hurried tour in ,■ dicated a survey was the immediate need, f Original plans had long been mislaid. To ; avoid a costly survey by civil engineers, a plane was rented and aerial photographs taken by the Ballantyne engineer. A roll towel was spread across the front of the concession and measured off at exactly 50 ft. After photos were developed, an enlargement was made so that the towel was exactly one inch long, re¬ sulting in a scaled photograph where one inch equalled 50 feet. (Fig. 1) Photos were taken at an altitude of 1,500 42 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR-1960 THEATRE CATALOG Edition April 6, 1960