McHenry Outdoor Theatre
1510 N. Chapel Hill Road,
McHenry,
IL
60050
1510 N. Chapel Hill Road,
McHenry,
IL
60050
8 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Golden Age Cinemas (Official)
Additional Info
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Skyline Drive-In
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
815.385.0144
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Jun 16, 2005 — McHenry Outdoor Theatre Going Dark?
- May 25, 2004 — Could the McHenry Outdoor Theater's Days Be Numbered?
The Skyline Drive-In opened on July 20 1951 with John Derek in “Rogues of Sherwood Forest”. It could originally accomodate 750 cars and was operated by Roy J. Miller.
It was renovated after the end of the 1976 season and reopened as the McHenry Outdoor Theatre on April 29, 1977. It is one of only a couple of drive-ins still in operation in the Chicagoland region. It’s season runs from May-September and screens family-friendly fare.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 34 comments)
On a Saturday morning in 2014, Scott Dehn received the long-awaited news that the McHenry Outdoor Theatre will get the digital projector it so desperately needed. It probably wasn’t quite the way he’d envisioned the moment going. Dehn, the theater’s owner, was in the middle of an on-camera interview with a crew he’d been told was from a film-related website. Turns out, the crew was from Honda, and they were there to reveal that McHenry Outdoor has won one of five digital projectors the company is giving away through “Project Drive-In.” “The interviewer, the last question he asked me was, ‘How does it feel to win a digital projector?’” Dehn said. Dehn told the guy he’d misunderstood the situation, and that the theater hadn’t won anything yet. That’s when the crew revealed they were from Honda and that McHenry Outdoor had won, Dehn said. “I just fell down to my knees and broke down for a little bit,” he said. “It was pretty emotional.” Dehn has been trying to find a way to update the theater’s equipment since he took it over in early 2012. Because of the movie industry’s ongoing switch from 35 mm film to digital – a format cheaper for studios and distributors – theaters across the country are having to move fast to install digital projectors. Otherwise, their owners are left choosing from a dwindling selection of movies produced on the old format. The change has hit smaller, independent theaters hardest, and threatens many home-grown drive-ins like McHenry Outdoor. Dehn’s campaign on the fundraising website Kickstarter to raise $130,000 for the projector and accompanying maintenance fell short. Kickstarter projects that don’t reach their goals don’t receive any of the funds that donors pledge, so Dehn had to go back to the drawing board. Through online efforts and other donations, the theater had raised $5,000 toward the switch. But under Project Drive-In, Honda’s attempt to help preserve what they call an “iconic part of American car culture,” Dehn turned his attention to asking for votes rather than money. It worked. Voters willed McHenry Outdoor to a spot among the contest’s five winners. “They came together to support something they love,” Dehn said. “I couldn’t be more proud to say I’m from McHenry.” He said it was like getting “the weight of the world” lifted off his shoulders when he found out his theater would survive the switch to digital. The extra $5,000 raised will go toward other repairs. Dehn plans to have the theater revamped and running with the digital projector by next season. “There’s a lot of beautification and a lot of repair work that will be done,” he said. For now, it’s time to celebrate. Dehn was with family and friends Saturday night at the drive-in for a showing of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” “I think we’re just going to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment, enjoy these last few days of 35 mm film we’ve got left,” he said. Dehn wasn’t the only one soaking in the evening Saturday. Cars flooded the theater parking lot as the sun disappeared. Families sat out lawn chairs and tables or piled in the back of pickup trucks. Many curled into blankets as the air cooled. “It’s awesome,” said Cheryl Burke, of Cary, who was playing Scrabble with her husband, Jim, and 15-year-old son, Adam, before the movie started. They’d been planning to come out anyway but when they heard about the projector, a movie became a must. “We own ‘Ferris Buehler,’” Cheryl Burke said, laughing. “But we came here to watch.” Ed and Tammie Majkrzak and their kids Gracee, 11, and Alayna, 8, who live so close to the theater they can tune into its radio station from home, were similarly familiar with the classic flick. But it didn’t matter. The theater is about the experience, they said. We’ve never seen it on the big screen,“ Tammie Majkrzak said. Before the movie started, Dehn spoke through the radio to the crowd, thanking them for their support. Theater-goers responded with car horns that played like applause. "Wow,” Dehn said. “What a night.”
Has the marquee(in the above photo) been enclosed?
The cover photo marquee stood near IL-120 and Chapel Hill Road, between the Shell and abandoned copy shop. The wind eventually took the rest of the McHenry Outdoor signage off to reveal the rusted original Skyline marquee. Unfortunately it’s since been removed.
Is the marquee being restored and put back in place or being replaced?
Is there a flea market there too?
Current Trib article about the operators purchasing the property.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/opinion/ct-lns-moran-mchenry-outdoor-st-0226-20200225-iboqtu73s5cwllwymybko4lhw4-story.html?fbclid=IwAR3UuhEzynWyfrJFXjQa65MJ2nx0WX0BlPtWiwd1Sgt1BRqHPQZbctrWQQo
Unfortunate news that it will not be able to reopen May 1st as planned, as the State reversed course after giving them the go-ahead.
https://patch.com/illinois/crystallake/course-reversed-theater-opening-im-literally-beside-myself?fbclid=IwAR0ek7kgWLowNkSBO_ZbyZrQh2EQNYGUkfFj8o2xqP5s-GYMN7EX5u14t6o
WTTW piece on the re-opening.
https://news.wttw.com/2020/05/11/drive-theater-offers-escape-pandemic-trip-back-time?fbclid=IwAR2QxUUZ29RWrSMyVBzu6nfAbliGSrNKo-jv-RDE5E9-Ex3M6cD7v4CIOsA#.XrsOE6kGdVY.facebook
Before Its CinemaScope Installation In 1954, The Original Screen That Was Used Since 1951 Is 52x70 Ft.
McHenry Outdoor Theater celebrates 75 years of movies under the stars
Just like they have on most every summer night for the past three quarters of a century, drivers make their way down gravel paths, kicking up dust and passing rows of speaker poles as they look for the perfect spot to watch a movie at the McHenry Outdoor Theater.
While the name has changed since that first car pulled into the Skyline Drive-In on July 20, 1951, to see “Rogues of Sherwood Forest,” the feeling of excitement when images start to flicker on the six-story screen hasn’t.
“It’s very unique, and I think it’s very important to preserve it,” owner Scott Dehn said.
The screen at the McHenry Outdoor Theater is roughly six stories tall and 100 feet wide. The theater opened as Skyline Drive-In on July 20, 1951, with a showing of “Rogues of Sherwood Forest.” Rick West/
The theater in Lakemoor (the property the theater is situated on was annexed from McHenry in 2020) is celebrating 75 years since first opening at 1510 Chapel Hill Road.
Open during the golden age of outdoor theaters, the McHenry is the only remaining drive-in in the suburbs.
Dehn purchased the theater 26 years ago. He said his earliest childhood memory was seeing a movie with his parents and sister at the very drive-in he now owns.
“I know exactly where we were parked, and I remember the two movies I saw were ‘Star Trek III’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,’” he said. “I already loved movies at that point. But this was the biggest building I’d ever seen at that young age, and I was like, ‘Wow! They show a movie on there?’ I was just captivated.”
The experience of being able to get out of the car and run around before the movie, and seeing people together in groups, stuck with him.
“I became infatuated with the whole communal movie experience,” Dehn said.
While they’re still there, the drive-in speakers at the McHenry Outdoor Theater don’t emit sound anymore. Sounds are broadcast over loudspeakers throughout the site and simulcast on FM radio. Rick West/
People are still embracing that experience. Dehn said they’ll get 600 to 700 cars on weekend nights to the theater, which is generally open from April to December.
Charles and Anna Ellis of Woodstock said they’ve had season passes for their family for two years and come every Wednesday for “subtitle night,” or any time a new movie comes out.
“I grew up going to drive-ins,” Charles Ellis said. “It was a whole family affair every summer. We like that it’s passing on to the next generation.”
Their experience showed.
Not only was the bed of their truck covered in cushions and pillows, but a hammock attached to a stand on the tow hitch allowed Charles to gently swing and pass the time before the movie started
“We’ve got it set up now so it’s almost as comfortable as sitting on our couch at home,” he said.
A few spaces over, Mason Snider and Chloe Schadle of Belvidere perched in the back of a pickup truck, eating popcorn and getting ready to take in their first drive-in movie. Both 17, they were the target audience when the industry was thriving.
“Seeing it in movies has kind of made it nostalgic for me, even though I’ve never been to one,” Schadle said. “When you see it, it always brings a vibe, and it looks cool.”
Dehn said he’s tried to make the theater a destination for families and has made a variety of improvements to the property over the years to enhance the movie-watching experience, including replacing the screen and renovating the concession stand three years ago.
“Everything’s as upgraded as it can be right now,” he said.
While only about 300 drive-ins still operate in the United States, Dehn said there were “thousands” when he bought the McHenry Outdoor in 2000.
Most closed because they couldn’t afford new equipment when the movie industry switched from traditional 35 mm film to digital projection.
Dehn faced the same dilemma, but saw an opportunity when Honda offered an online contest called “Project Drive-In” in 2013, which the company described as “a national effort to save as many of America’s remaining drive-ins as possible” by supplying them with free digital projection setups.
Dehn got the word out about the effort, which required people to vote online for the theater they wanted to receive the equipment. Moviegoers rallied, and they were one of nine theaters nationally chosen.
“What saved the theater is what I love most about it; it’s that the community comes together,” he said. “I mean, they come here because they want to see ‘Moana’ or ‘Toy Story,’ but they want to share that experience together, and it becomes like a block party where there just happens to be a couple of movies playing.”
To celebrate the anniversary, the theater will give the first 75 cars free admission on Tuesday, July 21, and Thursday, July 23, to showings of the live-action “Moana” and “The Odyssey.”
As part of the theater’s “golden ticket” promotion, one winner will receive a ticket good for every movie, every season, for the next 75 years. To sign up for the giveaway, visit goldenagecinemas.com/goldenticket.
Dehn said he still finds it hard to believe that the theater is turning 75 and that he’s been a part of it for over a third of its history.
“There’s not that many (drive-ins) that can say that,” he said. “I love movies. I love what you get out of seeing movies with your friends, your family, the community, your neighbors. It’s my job to take care of it and leave it better than I found it. I hope that whoever comes after me can keep that going for another 75 years.” (by Rick West)