Cinemagic Drive-In

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on June 25, 2012 at 9:01 am

When this drive-in opened on May 23, 1997, it was the first movie theatre to operate in Athens since the early 1980s. The movie shown opening night was “THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK” The Decatur Daily ran two articles on the theatres’s opening day, one which was appropiately titled “An outdoor dinosaur lives again!”. The original screen was 54 feet by 24 feet. Instead of having the old-style speakers on poles, it uses low-power FM transmitter, so you hear the movie in stero on your car’s FM radio. A second screen was added in 2000 and removed in 2005 in order to build the five-screen Cinemagic Theatre. The drive-in has operated every summer except the summer of 2001. The booth is now in the Cinemagic Theater.

CT can always use more photos and info.

JRF

Chief Bob Jensen
Manteno, Illinois

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on June 17, 2012 at 8:46 am

PLEASE CHANGE ADDRESS TO:

1702 jefferson street S (IT WILL THEN MAP CORRECTLY)

PLEASE CHANGE TO:

1 SCREEN (2ND SCREEN WAS REMOVED IN 2005 WHEN THE 5-PLEX INDOOR THEATER WAS BUILT)

THANKS

2thumbsdown on January 20, 2011 at 4:44 pm

My wife was treated very rudely by your management while being checked for outside food and drink during the previews. She was called ignorant and made fun of by one of the managers and when asked to speak to someone higher in charge, his response was God. I’ve read numerous reviews online that sound exactly like our situation…more bad reviews than good. Mr Freehauf, you should be ashamed of your management and as for my wife and I, we will be driving to Huntsville from now on instead of supporting local business. I would not recommend this theatre. Drive to Huntsville. 2 thumbs down!

Theatrespawn on July 23, 2007 at 12:53 am

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Freehauf built and own the theatre. They recently opened an indoor theatre at the same location.