Nor'West Drive-In

Photo Info

Taken on: April 20, 2016

Uploaded on: May 22, 2016

Exposure: 1/599 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32

Camera: Apple iPhone 6

Software: 9.3.1

GPS: 39° 54' 57" N, -105° 2' 21" W

Size: 1.3 MB

Views: 1,048

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Nor-West as it existed on April 20th, 2016: Street view of screen tower footings looking southeast

As an interesting side note, I was accompanied on this trip to take these photos by my personal friend/“surrogate grandma” who happens to be the last operator of the Nor-West as an operating theatre, the 87 year-old Mrs. Margaret “Margie” Holshue. We had spent an enjoyable afternoon over lunch & cruising around the city and on our way home for a quiet evening in, we decided to stop at the Nor-West for a trip down memory lane as well as an opportunity for me to snap some present day photos for CT as I had intended to do for a while. Her and her husband, the late William “Bill” Holshue were iconic and successful figures in Colorado’s movie theatre history, owning and operating several drive-in theatres in the Denver Metro Area from the 1950s to the present day. Although Mrs. Holshue largely entered the movie business through her marriage to her husband (who’s drive-in legacy dates back to his teen years in Ohio), she was always an avid movie fan who attended all of the theatres operating in her time as a little girl in Sterling, Colorado (with vivid memories of the grand opening gala of the currently operating Fox Theare out there) and one of her first jobs was as an usherette while she was a teenager/young lady at Downtown Denver’s historic Paramount Theatre. The Holshues owned/operated the Nor-West from approximately 1985-approximately 1995. While they found it to be successful, well planned/built and enjoyable to operate, the one caveat was that they owned only the business and some equipment; the land and structures were all owned by a separate entity located in South Dakota. They were unable to come to an amicable agreement at the time of their final lease renewal and therefore, closed. This is especially painful to think about as it is certain that the Nor-West would be alive and well to this day if things were different.