Beaufort drive-in owner plans expansion near Columbia airport
The owner of a Beaufort-area drive-in theater plans to open a multi-screen drive-in near Columbia Metropolitan Airport, the first outdoor movie theater in Richland or Lexington counties in nearly a quarter century.
The nostalgia for drive-in theaters has helped lure urban residents to make the long trek to The Big Mo in rural Monetta in recent years. The new Airport Drive-In will be closer to the urban core, just off the flight path for planes landing at the airport.
Joe Barth, who owns the Highway 21 Drive-In in Beaufort, closed on the tract at 1420 Old Dunbar Road in August. The former mobile home park on that property shut down years ago.
Barth said he plans to put up three or four screens at first, hoping to expand to seven screens. The goal is to open in November. “There’s still a lot to do, but we should get it done,” he said.
Barth, who runs a flooring business in addition to the theater in Beaufort, recently spent several days in Lexington County using a backhoe to pull up concrete slabs and take out trees on the vacant property.
Barth didn’t have to change the zoning, but Lexington County officials visited to make sure his plans would meet height and noise restrictions for property near the airport. While the theater will be only a few hundred yards from a runway, the plans pass the restrictions, said county planning director Charlie Compton.
Lisa and Richard Boaz, the owners of The Big Mo, said most of their customers drive more than 30 minutes to their three-screen theater in Aiken County, near the borders with Saluda and Lexington counties. They lovingly restored the old theater that had been shut down from 1986 until they purchased it in 1998.
“Part of the appeal for us has been the uniqueness of it,” said Richard Boaz, whose primary job is as a law librarian. “We’re more into the history, hobby angle than a money grab.”
The Boazes suspect a new drive-in closer to Columbia will hurt attendance at the Big Mo, though they think the market can handle two local theaters. Currently, there are only three drive-ins in the state, with the third in Greenwood.
That’s down from a high of 99 in 1954, according to driveintheater.com, which tracks the history of the facilities. The website lists 46 drive-ins in the state in 1967, 40 in 1977 and 12 in 1987. In Columbia, the historical list included the Skyway on Rosewood Drive across from the State Fairgrounds, the Sunset on Sunset Drive at Clement Road, the Alice at 5801 Main St., the Beltline on Sunset Drive, the North 1 and Twilight (later Starlite) on Two Notch Road and the Star-Lite on Sumter Highway.
Most closed in the 1970s or early 1980s, as multiplex indoor theaters began to open. The rise of suburban neighborhoods also made the land used for many of the roadside theaters more valuable for homes or retail businesses.
Most of the local theaters turned to soft porn movies near the end of their lives. One of the last in the Columbia area was the Sunset, which hung on with racy films into the late 1980s. A church now occupies that property.
The Big Mo feeds off nostalgia for the family-oriented or action films popular in the pre-porn drive-in days. It’s inexpensive, $8 for adults, $4 for kids for a double feature. There’s a bit of a carnival feel, with kids spending time on a playground or visiting the concession stand. Many customers watch from lawn chairs in the back of pickup trucks.
“It allows a level of freedom,” Richard Boaz said. “In some ways, it’s the quintessential communal experience, like tailgating. Or it can be the quintessential private experience in your car.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Beaufort drive-in owner plans expansion near Columbia airport."