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Two Drive-Ins Exploiting Folklore and Wide-Screen Presentation
GRAND OPENING TONITE PONT EXPRESS
Entrance view of the El Rancho, showing sign-storage structure.
with the booth a smaller structure set at one side toward the rear of the service building, placing the ports a distance of about 390 feet from the screen. These buildings, and the ticket booth — the latter architecturally simulating a ranch shed — are of cedar logs (imported from Canada) in tongue-and-groove construction, with roofing of shakes l)^-inch thick.
The highway side of the ramp area is enclosed by fencing of rough cedar with ship-lap, one lap being 2J4 inches to allow for shrinkage.
At the highway is constructed a sign structure which houses storage space. The entire structure is 34 feet high, 30 feet long, and 8 feet wide. Inside are three decks, the top one for attraction panel letters, the middle for such supplies as paper cups, popcorn boxes, tissue, etc., and the lowest one for raw popcorn and other snack stand supplies. The attraction advertising equipment mounted on this structure consists in Bevelite panels and letters, including 17-inch characters.
THE EL RANCHO
in the materials of America’s storied West, drive-ins of that region have native sources of picturesque design, and like many another in that end of the country, a number of them similarly named, the El Rancho at Kent, Wash., derives rustic charm from the cowpoke motive.
This new drive-in of the Northwest is owned and operated by Fay and Lloyd Honey, who have three other outdoor situations, plus one indoor theatre. Fay Honey has been an exhibitor for 30 years, while Floyd Honey has long been in the theatre equipment business on the Pacific Coast.
The El Rancho has a capacity of 575 cars, but it is laid out for doubling that size should patronage advise it. The present capacity is distributed through fourteen ramps within a relatively narrow angle, so that they may be extended, with speaker posts added to the ends to increase the capacity, and the field is wired for that possibility.
The screen tower also has been designed
in anticipation of later extension of the ramps. Rising to a height of 67 feet, the steel structure now provides a screen area 85 feet wide. Construction, however, allows for extension in fourteen sections, while two sections alone would increase the width to 113 feet. The screen face is ^4-inch weatherproof plywood fastened to backing of 4x4 cedar lumber, and coated with screen paint.
The projection and main service buildings are at the center of the ramp area,
MAIN SERVICE BUILDINC
The main service building measures 65x47 feet, housing a refreshment area which extends across the full width with three plate glass windows providing a view of the screen. The interior is finished in rough cedar, with exposed construction at the ceiling to complete the rustic design. Refreshment service is of straight counter type, with attendants costumed as if ready for a roundup. Outside, across the
Ranch architecture greets the patron at the ticket booth.
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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 30, 1954