Update: Starlite Drive In

It's been just over two months since Bob Groves passed away and the Starlite Drive In closed.  The question on many Durhamites' lips is – will the Starlite be closed forever, never to bring moving pictures back to the metal sheeting way down East Club Blvd.? Or will the Starlite find new life under a new owner?

As with so many things in Durham, nothing's certain, and there's rumors aplenty flying above a thinner veneer of fact.

The one thing that's apparently certain at this point: there's no truth to the constant rumor that the Starlite's land has been sold off to developers (e.g., WRS Realty, the firm developing the Wal-Mart StuporCenter right next door off Glenn Station Road).  At this point, the property and the Drive In remain stuck in the process of probate, as attorneys try to get to the bottom of Groves' estate and, in turn, the sticky question of exactly who'll own the Starlite when all is said and done.

Not that a future sale is, sadly, all that un-likely.  By one estimate, the property on which the Starlite stands is worth a cool $1 million – a lot more than the cash flow it can throw off as a throwback to 1950s movie-gazing. (The actual value could end up getting pegged even higher than that, methinks.)

Of course, the rub is -– that very fact reflects what Durham's all about, doesn't it?  A place where a man would devote twenty years of his life to running a drive-in theater cum gun/ammo shop that would ignite passionate devotion from Bull City residents, rather than cash out and walk away with enough money to live comfortably the rest of his life.

The well-coiffed man and his elastic wife down at Prestonwood or the Raleigh Country Club would sniff at the idea that a city of a quarter-million people would be ga-ga over a rusted-out drive-in. "Why, think about the economic value being wasted!  Just think how many homes or gas stations you could build next to the Wal-Mart!"  Just another reason so many of our Wake County friends don't understand what is unique, what is beautiful, about the Bull City.

The $64,000 question – make that the million-dollar question – is, will whoever inherits the Starlite Drive In look upon the property with dollar signs in their eyes, or with a gleam?

Therein lies the rub. To hear tell of it, a team of lawyers is sorting through and reconstructing the life of a man who put no stock in hard disks and microprocessors – who kept his records on paper, in what could be charitably called a disorganized fashion.  Given that Groves died without any living parents, wife, partner or children, that question becomes thorny indeed.

The ultimate fate of the Starlite seems likely to come down to precisely who ends up with control of the property. Someone in Wake County, or Wilmington, or Washington state would likely look at the Starlite as a stand of trees with an inconvenient bunker and screen, all blocking the way to the fundamental economic value of the property. Durham knows better.  And a Durhamite would seem a lot more likely to keep the Starlite as it is – a special, unique institution.

We won't know for some time exactly who, if anyone, will come to inherit the Starlite. But I know whose side I'd pull for.

Comments

[barry]

i'm afraid you're giving us too much credit, Kevin. there may be a slightly higher percentage of people living in Durham who would try to make a go of running the StarLite than in some other town, but, sadly, not that much higher. How many of us, if the StarLite were to fall into our laps, could simply afford to run it? Look at how much help was needed from the community to rebuild after the screen burned down.

Best case scenario, i think, is that whoever ends up as the owner is smart enough, and financially well off enough, to establish a trust to preserve the theater, and give up on the possibility of actually making a living off of it.

More likely, though, it'll be time to cash out. That's probably what i would do.

[Blazer Manpurse, BFA]

Sigh. You're probably right, Dependable One.

But...but...how are the kids gonna know who Coffy is???

[barry]

"But...but...how are the kids gonna know who Coffy is???"

Google.

[Phil]

Oh man. Crack. I just left a loooong comment here yesterday (which I typed when I should have been working) and it looks like it didn't post. Grumble.

In any case, I was echoing Barry's original comment, with some business commentary of my own that said, in short: a small-time business owner who has a single property that grows into a million dollar asset sees that property in a different way than a larger-time business owner who's earned a million dollars (through whatever means) and is thinking about buying a piece of property. Mental and emotional inertia being what they are (and uncertainty of future deals being what it is), folks tend to see an asset in the form that it currently exists, not in the form that it could be converted to.

[Phil Marsosudiro]

This week's Forbes Magazine has an article on biz folks who have bought drive-in theatres!

Excerpt:

Under the Stars
By Allison Fass | Jun 04 '07

Here's an offbeat investment that combines Hollywood and real estate: Open a drive-in movie theater.

Barry Floyd, an engineering designer, took his wife to drive-in theaters when they were dating, even though she thought it was "kinda weird." After they married he proposed building a drive-in of their own, while watching The X-Files movie in 1998 at a Tennessee drive-in from the back of his pickup truck.

Nine years, four loans and $700,000 later, the Floyds operate the Stardust Drive-In Theatre in Watertown, Tenn. But they have not made a buck ...

[Lee]

Ive been following this story since Mr. Bob's passing. I never had the oppourtunity to visit but, was curious could the Starlite be considered a landmark? There are few drive-ins operating today and I dont believe any are operating in the area.

If there is some way the Starlite could be designated a landmark or historic could it be saved?

I am new to the North Carolina so my question may seem off key.

[David D]

There is a blog about saving the Starlite....Perhaps some press would pick up the story and it could blossom because people would hear of the effort. I think a lot of people would be ready to help save it. I mean do we really need another Wal Mart or another Drug Store....NO

[David D]

The blog for saving the Starlite is....
http://blog.thebigwhitewolf.com/index.php

[Ormon Grimsby]

As a fan of the all the things I grew up with, including the Drive In. This is really ashame. I have seen the collapse of all the Drive Ins up in Michigan as well. The only way I could see turning it into a money making enterprise would be to expand the idea a bit and think about branding. You will not make a dime off the films, but if you had some decent marketing like T-shirts and other things to sell. Perhaps increase ticket prices to that of concerts but then have bands play, and car shows off to the side. Build on the Rockabilly, Surf, Hot Rod scene and try and incorporate all that into the venue and make it more of an event than just a film. You might be able to make a go of it, the thing is to innovate and think outside of the box. Try and draw more people and sell bigger ticket items to support it.
Yours in the here after,
Ormon Grimsby

[paul]

How about the general public purchase the drive-in. That way it can stay a drive-in....

[P Baker]

Cant the Historical Committee save the Drive-In?? It is over a half century old? How about the guys that remodeled the old warehouses for apartments and restaurant or American Tobacco Building for offices and restaurants??? How about an Organization running it?? Goodwill can teach mental challenged people to show the movies... Can there be a fundraiser to reopen it and people chip in together to run it? There HAS to be Something that can be done. Durham has lost so much GOOD stuff to PROGRESS Cant We SAVE something that means a lot to our past as well as our future or kids future???? Is there a big company that needs a tax rightoff to help them out each year? Send out emails, put notices in the paper, put up flyers... dont just let this happen without trying to do something.

[Theodore Brois]

Hyde Park New York
Senic Hudson saved the Hyde Park Drive from destruction by refusing another big box store in there community They used money from the town to purchase it, preserved a landmark use it as a commuter parking lot and have fall fairs for the community. Also the contracted a operator and still run the theater to pay back the loans a win win for everyone.

[Theodore Brois]

A well run drivein can net 300 to 350 k you need a experenced operator and it can be turned around ticket in a indoor theater are 10 to 13 dollars and only 6 to 7 you need to charge a little more and have a great snack bar thats where the return is.