Checking to see if the old place was up and running again, it saddens us to see it has more or less been abandoned as we suspected it would be.
My husband and I were the last management on the ground for Richard Boaz. Richard purchased the then fully-functional and active drive-in on ebay in the fall of 2000. Richard grew up in Keysville, although he lives in SC now. We moved to keysville in March and opened the spring season in April of 2001. We ran with great success for 2 months until Richard lost interest in the thing when his wife became pregnant early that summer. After discovering that the well that provided water for the concession stand and restrooms was dry in May 2001, he decided to close the site instead of investing in a new one. The last show was on Sunday, May 26, 2001, and we packed the lot. The following day, we became homeless and unemployed, and the whole way events went down has left a sour taste in our mouth for almost 5 years now.
We’ve heard he had the equiptment removed and sold for scrap, and that a leak in the upstairs had caused the 2nd floor to cave into the 1st… Also heard talk of selling it to a lumber company to park trucks. Sad really, there was alot of history there. I rememeber my husband cleaning out the attic upstairs when we first moved in, we found tickets, screeners, and posters dating back to the early 50’s up there.
Looking back, it was an incredible experience and a step out of time, but it taught us an important lesson: Never become employed by a hobbyist.
Hey guys,
Checking to see if the old place was up and running again, it saddens us to see it has more or less been abandoned as we suspected it would be.
My husband and I were the last management on the ground for Richard Boaz. Richard purchased the then fully-functional and active drive-in on ebay in the fall of 2000. Richard grew up in Keysville, although he lives in SC now. We moved to keysville in March and opened the spring season in April of 2001. We ran with great success for 2 months until Richard lost interest in the thing when his wife became pregnant early that summer. After discovering that the well that provided water for the concession stand and restrooms was dry in May 2001, he decided to close the site instead of investing in a new one. The last show was on Sunday, May 26, 2001, and we packed the lot. The following day, we became homeless and unemployed, and the whole way events went down has left a sour taste in our mouth for almost 5 years now.
We’ve heard he had the equiptment removed and sold for scrap, and that a leak in the upstairs had caused the 2nd floor to cave into the 1st… Also heard talk of selling it to a lumber company to park trucks. Sad really, there was alot of history there. I rememeber my husband cleaning out the attic upstairs when we first moved in, we found tickets, screeners, and posters dating back to the early 50’s up there.
Looking back, it was an incredible experience and a step out of time, but it taught us an important lesson: Never become employed by a hobbyist.