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Mortal Screen Towers Column for April 24, 2006

This article is dedicated to the memory of screen towers which either burned down or were destroyed by storms over the years and had to be replaced. One drive in which lost its screen due to a storm was closed instead because its owner couldn’t afford a replacement screen. The inspiration for this article was the storm damaged original screen tower of the Getty 4 Drive-In in Muskegon. Over the winter, the tower suffered damage from a windstorm so severe that Jack Loeks Theatres officials decided to have the screen tower refaced with new corrugated metal after removing the damaged and frequently patched skin of the 56-year-old screen tower. The Getty is the latest example of screen towers which had to be replaced. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/w2^Storm_damage_11-16-05_from_dan_goodman.JPG", "The Getty 4 DI after the storm", "left", "location.asp?id=254&type=1"%> The drive-in which was permanently closed instead was the Caro Drive-In in Caro whose 37-year-old screen tower blew over in a windstorm in 1987. That drive-in site was put up for sale instead and became a Wal-Mart. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/a000^Screen_wrecked_from_MichiganDriveIns.JPG", "The Lakes DI in Brighton after the storm", "right", "location.asp?id=18&type=1"%> Two drive-ins, both called the Lakes, one in Brighton and the other in Lake Linden, both blew down in windstorms but both screens were replaced. Both have since closed and the Brighton Lakes’ replacement screen found new life at the Galva Autovue Drive-In in Galva, Illinois. Another long gone drive in which replaced its tower was the Ecorse DI in Taylor which lost its original screen to a possible tornado in 1980. Its replacement screen was moved to the Ford-Wyoming DI after the Ecorse closed. The oldest operating drive-in in Michigan also operates with a replacement screen. The Hi-Way Drive-In in Carsonville lost its 48-year-old original screen in an April 1996 storm. The replacement screen tower from Selby Industries arrived and was assembled in July of that year. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/a0^Damage_by_high_winds_in_the_fall_of_1966_From_CARL_KIILUNEN_and_DAVE_HARKONEN.jpg", "The Lakes DI in Lake Linden after the storm", "left", "location.asp?id=244&type=1"%> Another still open drive in also operates with a replacement screen, the Sunset Drive-In in Hartford. But it's unknown as to why the original screen, of which its base is still standing behind the screen, was replaced. My speculation was that the prevalence of wide-screen movies was the reason and the old screen was not readily adaptable to accommodate a wider screen. That reminded me of the old Ypsi-Ann Drive-In in Ann Arbor which had a Selby Industries screen tower built in front of the original built-up pre-CinemaScope screen tower. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/a0^Ecorse_DI_down_from_Michigan_Drive-Ins.jpg", "The Ecorse DI in Taylor after the storm", "right", "location.asp?id=100&type=1"%> Built-up screen towers had one big disadvantage in being combustible. That was a fate of at least three drive-in screen towers. The Northside DI in Lansing burned down in the late 1970s in an apparent fireworks accident. Telephone poles were used to replace the screen and two other screens were added in the 1980s which also used telephone poles. The Sunset DI in Midland also lost its original screen in the late 1970s, due to an arson fire. That screen was also replaced. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/S^Screen_fire_-_photo_from_RG.jpg", "The final show on the US-23 DI's original screen tower", "left", "location.asp?id=236&type=1"%> Close to home, I remember watching the morning news in March 1997 very well when the reporter said that fire had destroyed a Mundy Township landmark. Then I saw what was left of the US-23 Twin Drive-In's original screen tower. All I saw was the charred and partially melted steel framework of the built-up wooden screen tower. When the same reporter said that the owner plans to rebuild, I knew what I had to do which was to take photographs of the replacement screen tower's construction. <%FloatImg "images/flinn/C^Screen_front_-_photo_from_Water_Winter_Wonderland.jpg", "The former Hi-Vue/Sceen DI screen tower today", "right", "location.asp?id=230&type=1"%> The season opening of the 23 was delayed a month so repairs could be made and the drive-in could open with the remaining tower. Owner Lou Warrington had built the 38' x 76' screen in 1986 from the salvaged 60' x 120' Selby Industries screen tower of the old South Dort Drive-In. The remaining components were saved for a possible third screen, but the fire forced Warrington to change his plans so the replacement screen was built with the remaining parts. You can still see the foundation piers of the destroyed screen tower today as you enter the drive-in as the replacement screen was built in front of the footprint of the destroyed screen. One other refaced built-up screen tower I should mention even though the structure no longer functions as a screen tower, just a towering shed. The golf driving range was originally the Hi-Vue/Sceen Drive-In in Vernon Township just outside Durand. A good friend of the Water Winter Wonderland web site is apparently still the owner of the property, Harry Mohney. Mohney owned other drive-ins in Michigan and contributed photos of his drive-ins to this web site. Because the Sceen Drive-In was the start of his adult entertainment empire, he chose for obvious sentimental reasons to keep the Sceen's former screen tower standing and had it refaced on all sides with green aluminum siding.

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