Business strong at Butler County's only drive-in theater as 75th anniversary nears
Jun. 13—HAMILTON — Spurred by "lots of great movies to choose from," the co-owner of Butler County's only drive-in theater reports large crowds as the industry celebrates its 90th anniversary.
The drive-in theater was invented by Richard Hollingshead, who opened the first one in Camden, N.J. on June 6, 1933. By the mid 1950s, there were more than 4,000 drive-ins in the United States. But 25 years ago, there were 593 drive-ins in the U.S., and last year there were 321 operating in the U.S. and 24 in Ohio, according to DriveInMovie.com.
With the influx of movies shown on cable TV and multi-screen theaters, only one Butler County drive-in has survived.
Holiday Auto Theatre opened as Hamilton Outdoor Theater on Sept. 3, 1948 and was purchased by Todd Chancey and his business partner, Mark Althoetmar, in September 2007. The theater will celebrate its 75th anniversary in September.
The owners immediately invested in the theater by improving the quality of the picture and audio, hiring "the right people" and bringing part of "the Disney experience" to the business, said Chancey, who formerly worked in operations management for Disney.
Those upgrades have paid off at the box office, Chancey said. The theater is averaging about 60,000 moviegoers a year and Chancey said since opening in April, Holiday Auto Theatre has seen large crowds.
When the movie industry shut down due to COVID-19, Hollywood wasn't producing new movies, so Holiday Auto offered some of the classics, he said.
The theater is showing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Some of the future movies include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Evil Dead Rise, Fast X, the Little Mermaid, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Elemental, The Flash and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Chancey said moviegoers still enjoy the "feel of nostalgia" they experience at the drive-in.
He said customers also appreciate the low cost of the drive-in theater. Since buying the theater 16 years, the owners have raised the price of adult admission from $8 to $9.75.
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HOW TO GO
WHAT: Holiday Auto Theatre
WHERE: 1816 Old Oxford Road, Hamilton.
HOURS: Wednesday through Monday. Gates open at 7:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: Adult admission is $9.75, children 4-11 are $5.75 and children younger than 3 are free.
MORE INFO: holidayautotheatre.com
