| ||||||
| Features | Updates | Upcoming | Contact | Links | Forum | Drive-In Theaters |
| Downtown | Civic Center | Oldsmobile | Lake Lansing | Theatres | Fast Food | Drive-In Restaurants |
|
| The crunch of the gravel under the car's tires. The smell of hot dogs and popcorn from the snack bar. The crackle of the in-car speaker. The flicker of the movie up on the huge screen. The twinkle of stars overhead on a cool summer night. Those nights are all but forgotten. Especially in the Lansing area, which was once home to five Drive-In Theaters. Those included the Lansing Drive-In, the M-78 Drive-In, the Starlite Drive-In, the Northside Drive-In, and the Crest Drive-In. Sadly, none of these remain. Drive-In Theaters were not designed to last forever, and most fell into disrepair. Changing culture, rising land values, urban sprawl, and the arrival of home video all contributed to the demise of the drive-in. Click on each drive-in for more photos and history at Michigandriveins.com. |
| Lansing's first outdoor theater opened May 29th, 1948. The Lansing Drive-In was located on the southeast corner of Cedar and Jolly, at 5207 S. Cedar St. The Lansing survived as a single screen drive-in until it's last flick played on September 7th, 1981. The theater was razed, and the site is now occupied by the Ingham County Human Services building. |
 |
 |
The infamous Crest Drive-In opened on September 8th, 1950, with a capacity for 700 cars. It was a typical family drive-in when it opened, and for many years after. But, that all changed in 1972 when porn-king Harry Mohney came to town. Mohney purchased the Crest and began showing X-rated movies, to packed houses. Frustrated neighbors voiced their disapproval, but the porno continued, until the Crest finally closed around 1990. Ironically, a Catholic church now occupies the site where they used to show dirty movies. |
| The Northside opened on August 29th, 1952. The theater was equipped with in-car heaters in 1969, and radio sound in 1974, the first in the state. The original screen burned down in the early 1970's, but was quickly replaced. The world famous rock trio Rush played an ill-fated rock fest here in 1974. The partying continued into the 1980's, resulting in many visits by the DeWitt Township Police. Two more screens were added in 1984, but the Northside only hung on for four more years. The projectors ran for the final show on August 18th, 1988. |
 |
 |
The Starlite Drive-In opened in southwest Lansing on May 22nd, 1953, with an intial capacity of 700 cars. The Starlite eventually became part of the Butterfield Theatres chain, and was expanded to an 1,100-car capacity on it's single screen. It closed for good on August 23rd, 1984, and was later demolished. The site was used for RV storage for awhile, it currently is a vacant lot. |
The M-78 Drive-In was last drive-in to
open in the Lansing area, and the last to close. The drive-in was opened as an all-season twin on November 7th, 1969,
on the corner of M-78 and Newton Rd. in Meridian Township.
It featured a large modern snack bar and large lots featuring
 blue and red color coded screens.
A third "green" screen was added in May, 1977, and subsequently removed to make way for a new Super Cinema's indoor
theatre which opened in November 1992. The last night for the M-78 Twin was September 6th, 1992. It was scheduled
to reopen in the spring of 1993, but it never did. The M-78 has slowly died, the victim of vandalism and neglect.
The two big screens were demolished in November, 1999. The snack bar, ticket booths, office, and indoor theatre remain
and the site is still for sale as of November, 2006.
© 2006-2008 LostLansing.com ~ Lansing, Michigan USA
|
