Traralgon Village Drive-In

The Traralgon Drive-In was located part way between Morewell and Traralgon on Princess Highway, although outside of the built up areas of either town, it was positioned in a very prominent location.

The Traralgon Village Drive-In was the most modern in Australia when it screened its first film in April 1965. The screen was 100ft wide, 40ft high and 25ft above the ground. It cost approximately AU $14,000 to build and weighed 8.5 tons. The capacity of the drive-in was for 686-cars.

The projection room was equipped with Century DAW projectors and Strong xenon lamp houses. In the late-1970’s/early-1980’s, Village updated most of their drive-in projection plants to the American Century brand. The DWA model was manufactured specifically for drive-in used. “D” denoting double shutter-more light for drive-in use, “A” being the model designation and “W” being for water cooled projector head for use with large current lamp-houses (Technical data courtesy of Drive-Ins Downunder)

The snack bar was an early example of the self-serve variety that was popular in the 1970’s - early-1980’s. The biggest grossing film title was the Australian production of “They’re a Weird Mob”. The drive-in abruptly closed during May 1990, after serving the population of the surrounding areas for a quarter of a century. The projectionist/manager at the time of closing was Mr. Ted Hogno. The screen was taken down immediately after closure and the land remained vacant for a number of years.

The Latrobe Regional Hospital has now been built on the site.

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