Sunset Drive-In - Ontario, Ohio
N 40° 45.824 W 082° 39.529
17T E 359991 N 4513853
Sunset Drive-In Theatre, 4018 Park Ave W, (SR 309 at SR 314), just west of Ontario (Richland County), Ohio.
Waymark Code: WMJ9P7
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 10/15/2013
Views: 7
Sunset Drive-In Theatre has one screen and a car capacity of 440. Its sound was broadcast on AM(530), FM(89.1) and speakers. A typical season was April through October. A "FOR SALE" sign is posted in the ticket booth. All pages of the theatre's web site say "We are now closed for the season. THANK YOU for your support and patronagen [sic] this year. -Copyright 2011 Sunset Drive In Theatre."
An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on June 8, 2013, reads in part: "Mansfield -- Nelda Spore was 12 years old in 1960 when she started selling candy at the concession stand of the Sunset Drive-In in Mansfield, following her mother who worked there.
"Nelda learned every job, met and married Richard Spore who also worked there, left to teach, then returned 13 years ago and has managed the drive-in ever since. Now, at age 66, with her husband ill, she will be the one to turn out the lights forever.
"'It's so sad,' she said. 'I feel like this drive-in has been my life for so long. Now it's just going to fade away.'
"The theater's owner, Jay Phillips, lives in California. He and his three brothers opened the place in 1946. It lasted through the tough times of the 1980s, when most drive-ins in the country closed.
"But today, Phillips, the last surviving brother, is unwilling to put up the $70,000 to convert from film to digital video. So later this year when Hollywood studios stop using film, drive-ins that don't adapt -- like the Sunset -- will shut."
Current condition: Still standing (could be re-opened)
Address:
4018 Park Ave W
Mansfield, Ohio USA
44903
Web Page: [Web Link]
Rating: 
Unknown Name: Not listed
Drive-In For Sale!: Not listed
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