At a long-vacant drive-in theater north of Felton, half a dozen small businesses may be performing in the shadows of the remaining movie screens.
Property owner Felton Drive-In LLC and president Jeffrey Garrison are building a business/industrial project on the 8.16-acre site of a former theater that screened the animated films “Bolt” and “Madagascar 2” during its final screenings about 16 years ago. He proposed building a park.
The scene is on the west side of Route 13 at 9758 S. Dupont Highway, south of Plymouth Road.
Plans include six buildings of 9,750 square feet each, for a total of 58,500 square feet, said Mike Lehman, project engineer with Becker Morgan Group. Maximum building height will be 30 feet.
He said the buildings are designed to serve local contractors and small businesses.
Most of the land is vacant land, except for a movie screen, a house, and another building. The screens and buildings will be demolished, but the homes will remain for now on a portion of the site slated for commercial development near the highway. The six buildings in the commercial and industrial park are located further west of National Route 13.
The county Regional Planning Commission approved the site plan application on April 11 by a vote of 7-0.
“I think it's great progress,” Commissioner Paul Davis said. “You've done a great job. This place has been abandoned for a while.”
More Dover area business news:5 new restaurants featuring Mexican cuisine, pizza and cookie bakery
Why has this site been abandoned for so long?
Lehman said the owners asked the county to extend the sewer line to the property. Tidewater Utilities will provide water.
“That's probably why this property remained vacant. It really didn't have water or sewer,” Lehman said.
This land is designated as a “general business site'' that is subject to permission as a commercial/industrial park. The county's comprehensive plan designates this area as a highway commercial district, so the proposed use complies with that.
Since each building is less than 10,000 square feet, fire sprinklers are not required, but water pipes run throughout the property and fire hydrants will also be installed. Firebreak meets or exceeds requirements.
The property has two stormwater areas totaling 32,803 square feet. In addition to existing trees, landscaping will include planting new trees as a buffer to neighboring properties, as well as trees and shrubs around the parking lot.
Disagreements about parking
We need 59 parking spaces, but the owner has provided 80 spaces.
County planners recommended a location for overflow parking in case a business, such as a brewery, moves in and holds events that require more space.
Lehman said there is already 21 more spaces than needed and that if a business like a brewery is proposed, the county can address parking for that business at that time.
County Planning Director Sarah Kiefer said the overflow parking recommendation is a recommendation and is intended to “build in as much flexibility as possible because we want it to be successful,” but final approval is up to the Planning Commission. Stated.
The entrance will be on the south side of National Route 13, with right entrance and right exit. A right turn lane will be provided.
Memories of old drive-ins
The Diamond State Drive-in opened in 1949, according to the Cinema Treasures website. In 1966, the theater was renamed the Highway 13 Drive-In and closed in 1985. Ten years later, new owners reopened it under its original name, Diamond State Drive-In, but it closed in 2008.
“I actually went to see a movie there when they were about to reopen,” Lehman said at the April 11 Planning Commission meeting.
Commissioner William Jester said he remembers those days.
“The lines were a mile long on the highway,” Jester said, adding that he was surprised the business didn't survive.
The rise and fall of drive-ins
The closure of the Diamond State Drive-in reflects the declining popularity of drive-in theaters across the United States. It was the last store in Delaware when it went out of business in 2008.
Another company opened a drive-in near Bear in 2021, but it only lasted a year.
Details about the former Bear Drive-In:Get your popcorn ready: Bear's first drive-in theater will open in coming weeks
According to the New York Film Academy's website, drive-in theaters date back to the 1910s, but it wasn't until the baby boomers of the 1950s and 1960s that they really took off. There were over 4,000 of them, most of them concentrated in rural areas.
During the oil crisis of the 1970s, the Motion Picture Academy said, “People downsized their cars to save on rising gas prices, making it uncomfortable to watch movies at drive-ins.” To make up for lost revenue, drive-ins began losing their family-friendly atmosphere by showing adult content as well as exploitation films such as slasher horror. ”
Later, with the development of VCRs, it became possible to easily watch movies at home.
“Economically speaking, it has become more practical for owners to close drive-ins in order to sell the land to developers to build malls or mixed-use buildings,” the Motion Picture Academy reported.
According to the Motion Picture Academy, there will still be more than 300 drive-ins open across the U.S. in 2023, but Delaware is one of only six states without a drive-in, along with Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Wyoming. It is said to be one of the
Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate, development and business stories. Please contact us at rmace@gannett.com.
