In a romance and journey worthy of the massive display screen, a Pennsylvania couple is preserving the previous and forging a future because the homeowners of the world’s oldest working drive-in movie show.
Lauren McChesney obtained greater than admission to a double characteristic when she handed her ticket to Matt McClanahan at a unique drive-in he managed in 2018. They began relationship a yr later, and, in August, obtained engaged. In between, they bought Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre, which was Pennsylvania’s first drive-in and solely the nation’s second when it opened in 1934.
The couple started brainstorming about drive-ins throughout a cross-country highway journey that included stops at each operational and deserted theaters. Their authentic purpose was to open a brand new drive-in, however after they discovered Shankweiler’s may get offered to builders, “the light bulb went off,” McClanahan stated.
“Why are we spending so much time trying to build one when there’s one literally down the road from our house that’s for sale and is like the most important drive-in?” he stated.
The drive-in movie show business started in Camden, New Jersey, in 1933 and peaked within the late Fifties, with greater than 4,000 drive-ins, in line with the United Drive-In Theatre House owners Affiliation. The numbers dropped quickly within the Seventies and 80s as different leisure choices elevated, together with land values that made promoting for redevelopment engaging. Although standard in the course of the pandemic, by 2024, there have been solely 283 left, in line with the affiliation.
McClanahan, 35, who grew up going to Shankweiler’s, had managed one other drive-in and began a cellular film enterprise in the course of the coronavirus pandemic. In distinction, McChesney, 41, had by no means been to a drive-in earlier than 2018, and she or he left a secure company job within the well being care business to tackle this new enterprise. Shopping for Shankweiler’s was a danger for each of them — they pooled their financial savings and secured a $1 million mortgage to purchase the drive-in in 2022 — however one they are saying has paid off.
Lauren McChesney and Matt McClanahan, homeowners of Shankweiler’s Drive-In in Orefield, Penn.
Lauren McChesney through AP)
“This was an undertaking that was leaps and bounds bigger than anything I’d ever done in my life, in terms of investment, monthly expenses, and debt,” McClanahan stated. “It still feels surreal when I think about it.”
They’ve constructed a profitable enterprise with the assistance of robust summer time attendance, the occasional big-name movie like “Wicked,” and particular occasions like Valentine’s Day “date night” screenings of “The Notebook.” The drive-in is open seven days per week from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and Thursdays by way of Sundays the remainder of the yr. Tickets are $9 for kids and $13 for adults.
Ken Querio, 52, of Kutztown, Pennsylvania, has been going to Shankweiler’s since he was an adolescent. He made a degree to hunt out the homeowners earlier than a current viewing of “Jaws.”
“I actually thanked them,” he stated. “It’s wonderful to have an old-school, an old venue like this still going.”
Wilson Shankweiler, a outstanding lodge proprietor and film buff, opened what was then referred to as Shankweiler’s Park-In Theatre on April 15, 1934. McClanahan and McChesney are its fourth homeowners.
McChesney stated the success of the enterprise performed a task within the timing of their engagement.
“We knew we’d eventually get married, but we kept doing other things instead, like starting businesses and buying movie theaters,” she stated.
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