Man taking on Bay Area drive-in’s passed down by grandfather
Bay Area drive-ins are blasts from the past
FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers reports on Lakeland's Silver Moon Drive-In Movie Theater, handed down from generation to generation and still operating today. The owner, Chip Sawyer, also owns and operates Joy-Lan Drive-In in Dade City, both of which were opened by his grandfather.
LAKELAND, Fla. - Silver Moon drive-in movie theater in Lakeland is a marquis from the mid-century. Its giant white projection screen makes it one of the few standing holdovers of a different age.
Silver Moon Drive-In's big white showing screen.
As a teenager, Chip Sawyer helped his grandfather run it. Then, the 77-year-old drive-in was handed down to Sawyer when he was just 24 years old.
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The backstory:
He's been running it since 2017 and describes taking over the family business.
"It's not Disney World or something replicated. It's actually been there for decades and decades," says Sawyer.
Chip Sawyer standing in front of Silver Moon Drive-In's big white showing screen.
Sawyer also owns the Joy-Lan Drive-In and Swap Shop in Dade City.
Movie showing board at Joy-Lan Drive-In theater and Swap Show.
Like the Ruskin Family Drive-In, which is now being repaired after storm damage, the Silver Moon in Lakeland is a holdover from a golden era of drive-ins.
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After World War II, 4,000 drive-ins popped up, and it seemed there was one on every street corner.
Dig deeper:
There hasn't been a new drive-in built in Florida in decades, but if you have the key to the old projection room at the Silver Moon, you'll find a passage back to 1948.
Sawyer kept his grandfather's massive, old projector. When big reels of film were delivered, they had to be threaded through the projector, all from a hot and noisy projection room.
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Now, the films are shown by a laser projector that appears through thin air to a satellite dish atop the concession stand.
WATCH: Work starts to repair Ruskin drive-in
"They're downloaded automatically via satellite every week and stored on servers here at the theater," says Sawyer.
Developers scooped up many drive-in theaters nationwide to build shopping centers, apartments and houses.
What's next:
The Silver Moon sits on 16 acres of prime Florida real estate. Is it for sale?
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"We've been approached. I'm not interested. We love it too much," says Sawyer.
The Silver Moon shows a double feature seven nights a week.
The Silver Moon and Joy-Lan Drive-In and Swap Shop hosts moviegoers on weekends and movies in the evening, and admission is $8 a person.
The Source: FOX 13's Llyod Sowers collected the information in this story.
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