I graduated high school in 2009. That summer, I celebrated my achievement by embracing the freedom to wander. With a crappy car, a crappy camera, and little to do before I went away to college, I drove around to see what I could find! One trip led me to New Castle’s Skyvue Drive-In.
New Castle’s Skyvue Drive-In opened on June 9, 1967. A latecomer to the outdoor theater boom, the Skyvue was said to have been modeled after Muncie’s Ski-Hi Drive-in1 which stood about thirty miles north on State Road 3. The Skyvue accommodated 500 cars and, out of the gate, broadcast sound over FM radio in addition to the regular old pole-mounted speakers2.
Unfortunately, drive-ins were becoming old hat by the 1970s and 80s. Multiplexes offered more films in better comfort and home entertainment systems let people watch movies from the comfort of their favorite chair. As audiences dwindled, it became harder for owners to pay property taxes and maintain their equipment.
Despite that, the Skyvue still showed the newest movies every night as late as the early 90s even as the larger Ski-Hi began resorting to second-runs3. Unfortunately, Indiana’s move to Daylight Saving Time did a number on the theater’s business. In 2007, the Skyvue averaged fifty fewer cars a night than it had the previous year. The movies just started too late4.
In 2009, Skyvue managers announced that the theater wouldn’t reopen for the season. The next day, they issued a retraction and said they’d come to terms with the property owner to operate for another season5. It was under those circumstances that my friend Shawn and I arrived on the scene.
We thought nothing of parking just outside the ticket booth and strolling in to poke around. Shawn and I had made it about halfway back to the projection booth when we saw someone hop in a work truck and chase us out. Oops! That was enough to end our trip for the day.
As it turns out, the Skyvue operated for three more years. The theater’s 2010 season began on April 16. Tickets were $6 for moviegoers 13 and older and cost $3 for patrons between the ages of five and twelve6.
The Skyvue closed after the 2011 season. The following year, a group called “Save the Skyvue Foundation” announced plans to reopen the shuttered theater, add a second screen, and build a new playground. They also unveiled plans to upgrade to a digital projection system, an exorbitant expense that, by then, was necessary to show many first-run movies7.
The theater’s owner, G.W. Pierce Auto Parts, struggled to sell or lease the property8 over the next few years, but a deal was struck to reopen. On June 26, 2014, the SkyVue showed its first movie, Transformers 4, in three years9! Against all odds, the theater soldiered through September 2015 after new management couldn’t secure funds for the digital projector10.
I was back in Muncie when the Skyvue reopened, but I never saw a movie there since I hadn’t heard it was back in business! The drive-in barely advertised outside of Facebook, and the Muncie paper didn’t mention the Skyvue a single time in those years. Unfortunately, G.W. Pierce sold the Skyvue to Miers Excavation and Demolition in 201611.
It’s weird to consider, but my Skyvue photos were taken nearly half my lifetime ago. I’m glad I made some record of it as it once appeared. Since then, Miers took down the neon SKYVUE sign that faced the highway, graded the parking area, and built several new buildings.
Although it no longer shows movies under the stars, the Skyvue’s massive screen tower remains a landmark near the junction of State Road 3 and I-70, Today, it’s painted to resemble a gigantic American flag. I might not have many memories of the Skyvue, but I have tons of them from my first car! I’d like to make a cash offer on the next 1991 Honda Accord I see, but I’ll have to make a trip to Winchester or Shelbyville for another trip to the drive-in. It’s a shame.
Sources Cited
1 Carlson, J. (2012, June 18). Flickers of Life. The Muncie Star Press. p. D1.
2 Zornig, D. (2023, March 7). Cinema Treasures. Web. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
3 Gibson, R. (1992, June 6). A dying breed. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 8.
4 Leiker, J. (2007, September 30). Drive-in struggles through another sunny summer. The Muncie Star Press. p. 35.
5 Leiker, J. (2009, April 25). Drive in receives reprieve. The Muncie Star Press. p. 13.
6 Skyvue Drive-In (2010, April 5). The Muncie Star Press. p. 13.
7 (See footnote 1).
8 Pitts, E. (2013, September 2). Some hope to save the Skyvue Drive-In. The New Castle Courier Times. Web. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
9 SkyVue Drive-In Theatre (2014, June 26). OK – we have the Transformers 4 rated PG13 for a single show tonight – Thursday June 26, 2014. This is our [Status]. Facebook.
10 (See footnote 2).
11 Henry County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2023). Parcel ID: 004-00327-00. Henry County, Indiana Assessor. map, New Castle, IN.
