One of Idaho’s last drive-in theaters is closing. Its beginnings and why one woman says there’s a local resurgence
Published at | Updated at
REXBURG – The thought of Teton Vu Drive-in being replaced by housing is almost too much for Shanna Anderson to bear.
The 71-year-old Idaho Falls woman is the daughter of the Rexburg theater’s original owner. On July 18, the business announced on its Facebook page its last day of operation would be August 24. Kuhn Properties recently bought the land and is awaiting the city’s approval for a 410-unit housing development on the site to be completed over the next three years.
Anderson tells EastIdahoNews.com the 8-acre lot at 1114 North Yellowstone Highway is where she spent every summer as a kid. It’s here where her father taught her a work ethic and how to serve customers.
Although no one in her family ended up taking over the business, she’s happy the drive-in has endured for decades under other owners. It makes her sad knowing it will soon be all gone.
“It breaks my heart,” Anderson says through tears. “Here are my childhood memories from a tiny girl to an adult when I went off to college. This is where I earned my money to be able to go to college.”
Nationwide, there are about 300 drive-in theaters still in operation. Teton Vu is one of six drive-ins across the state. When it closes, only two will remain in eastern Idaho: Idan-Ha Drive-in in Soda Springs and Motor Vu Drive-in in Idaho Falls.
Cameron Andrews has operated Teton Vu since 2009. Though the seasonal operation has been a profitable venture, he says it was only a matter of time before it closed.
“When we started this 15 years ago, we thought we’d be lucky to get five years. We knew full well it was prime development property and that was the inevitable end,” Andrews says. “You could sell out every night all summer and it still wouldn’t keep up with the value of the property.”
Idaho is one of the fastest-growing states and the demand for more housing in Rexburg and elsewhere continues to increase. Still, many have expressed disappointment with the abundance of housing developments in a town that was once a small, rural community.
“Rexburg has turned into a consistent building of apartments and/or townhomes! There is no longer anything to entice you to (come here),” one woman writes on Facebook.
Steven Hansen, one of multiple investors with H2 Venture Properties — the company working with the property owner to develop the land — acknowledges the theater’s value to the community and he’s working with Andrews to give it a “nice sendoff” and incorporate elements of the theater into the new project.
Though Anderson appreciates the gesture, it does little to alleviate her sorrow over the loss of an iconic business.
“It makes me sad because it was a wonderful thing that families could do together,” she says. “I just wish it would stick around.”
The birth of the drive-in nationwide and in eastern Idaho
Richard Hollingshead introduced the drive-in concept nationwide when he opened a theater in New Jersey in 1933. It quickly took off, and led to a rise in similar theaters across the country over the next 20 years. By the 1960s, there were more than 4,000 nationwide.
In 1947, Hugo Jorgensen and J.H. Moran opened the first drive-in theater in Idaho. Though it’s changed hands multiple times and sat vacant for 11 years before the current owners bought it in 2019, Motor Vu Drive-in at 2095 Yellowstone Highway in Idaho Falls is still in operation today.
Motor Vu spokeswoman Jennifer Spalding says it was America’s car culture and the social aspect of cruising with friends that popularized the drive-in concept.
“Cars became so important to Americans. I think it was just an extension of that love and what that equals with freedom,” Spalding says. “We’re also talking about an era with drive-in restaurants, jukeboxes and big blockbuster movies. All of those things combined to make drive-in theaters really fun.”
Opening Teton Vu
From an early age, Anderson says her father, Ralph Prestwich, was an entrepreneur. He opened a service station in Idaho Falls at age 18. He hired people to run it for him so he could focus on his interest in motion pictures.
Sometime during the 1930s, Prestwich launched a film projection venture where he would rent films and host movie screenings in communities from Lima, Montana to McCammon, Idaho. Movies were on film canisters at the time and weren’t readily available for home viewing, Anderson explains, which made it a unique idea.
Prestwich partnered with C.D. Cousins in 1950 to open Sky Vu Drive-in on the south side of Idaho Falls. The duo ran it for about 10 years before Prestwich opened Teton Vu in Rexburg, according to Anderson.
Sky Vu permanently closed in 2015. An RV park opened at that location last year.
RELATED | Luxury RV park opening in Idaho Falls
Teton Vu first opened in 1958, Anderson says, and it was the place to be on Friday and Saturday night.
She has fond memories of picking up trash and placing orders in the snack bar as a little girl.
“I remember the first item I sold. It was a popsicle and I made a mistake. I thought it was 5 cents but it was 6 cents. I got a lecture about how I needed to know the prices, and I needed to know how to add and subtract and do it in my head,” says Anderson.
She also recalls going to Salt Lake with her dad to book films for the summer and the canisters being delivered to the theater.
“It came in a great big, metal box with a handle on it and there’d be four reels in it,” she says.
Running the film through the projector was an art that required attention to detail.
“There were two projectors. When that reel was almost finished, there would be dots across the bottom of the screen that would tell you it was time to get the next one ready to go,” Anderson remembers.
The idea was to make the transition from reel to reel as seamless as possible.
When the reels were done playing, she remembers taking it to the work bench and hand rolling it back to the beginning.
In those days, there were speakers in the parking lot so customers could hear the movie in their car. Often, people stole the speakers. Anderson says her dad got in the habit of writing down the license plate numbers of each vehicle so he could tell law enforcement who was parked there.
“Almost always the speaker would be returned,” says Anderson. “He worked very hard, and he made sure things looked pristine. The rocks you see out front, the bars and paneling on the fence, the ticket booth and chains by the entrance were painted every year.”
RELATED | Museum of Rexburg invites community to fourth annual Teton Dam flood commemoration
Anderson remembers seeing a wave of water flood the theater when the Teton Dam broke in 1976. The screen and most of the fence survived, but a tractor Prestwich used to groom the grounds “ended up on the railroad tracks” and was destroyed.
There was extensive damage to the snack bar, which was later remodeled.
The title on the marquee at the time of the flood, “The Way We Were,” stayed up for a long time while the theater was closed for repairs, Anderson says. With all the changes that took place during that time, Anderson now views the title with a sense of irony.
In 1986, after 28 years in operation, Prestwich decided to retire. None of his kids wanted to take over the business so he sold it. It went through several operators initially. Andrews acquired it from the Vail Family in 2009.
The decline, resurgence and future of the drive-in
Drive-in theaters have experienced several periods of decline over the years. The first one happened in the 1970s during an oil crisis.
In 1973, OPEC imposed an embargo against the U.S., which significantly reduced the oil supply. Oil prices quadrupled, which had a drastic impact on the rest of the economy as well. People were driving less, as a result.
The invention of the VCR during the 1980s and the accessibility of VHS tapes led to another decline.
“In the 1970s and 80s, drive-in theaters became more adult-oriented, showing horror films. There was a lot less of a crowd, and I think that led to them closing down,” Spalding says.
During the digital revolution in the early 2000s, Spalding says many theater owners couldn’t afford to transition to a digital projector, which led to another significant decline and many drive-in theaters permanently closed.
Motor Vu closed in 2008 for that reason, Spalding says. It sat vacant until her relatives, Ryan and Linda Rumsey, bought it in 2019.
Then in 2020, Spalding says the COVID-19 pandemic led to a resurgence of drive-in theaters in some areas.
“During the pandemic, people were really hungry for that nostalgia and fellowship with other people,” says Spalding. “It waned after a couple of years in some areas. It’s only increased at Motor Vu.”
RELATED | Motor Vu Drive-In working toward summer 2020 reopening
Andrews has seen continual growth and interest from the community in the 15 years he’s owned Teton Vu, including during the pandemic. The fact that it’s remained profitable is a direct result of the community’s support.
“People appreciate that it’s a small, hometown business, and it was run that way,” Andrews says. “It was successful because the community got behind it.”
The only reason it’s closing now is because the property owners are finally ready to move forward with a development project, which has been in the works for years.
Andrews expresses gratitude to the developers for honoring the theater’s history.
“I’ve really been impressed. They’re not looking to just level the drive-in and move on. They recognize the history and its value in the community over the last 66 years,” says Andrews. “They’re finding ways to incorporate parts of the original screen into the architecture (of their development).”
He’s looking forward to celebrating with the community at an upcoming event. Details will be announced once they’ve been finalized.
Anderson feels the decision to move forward with the housing project is a poor solution when there is overwhelming support for keeping the theater in operation.
“Why take away history that was positive?” she says.
“Please do not claim the new owners care about (its legacy) if all they are going to do is build MORE apartments/townhomes,” another woman posted on Facebook. “If they did care, they would revamp and restore this amazing (business) so that our community can continue to enjoy … a place where precious memories have been made for seven decades.”
From the beginning, Spalding says drive-in theaters have always been small, locally-owned ventures where families go to enjoy an inexpensive night out together, which is why they’re so appealing.
Some predict that drive-in theaters across the country will eventually die as communities continue to grow. But in eastern Idaho, Spalding says the support for a drive-in remains strong.
Motor Vu has served the community in unique ways in the last several years, Spalding says, and her family plans to continue running it for as long as people will support it.
“I have a lot of hope for the future of the Motor Vu. We’ll keep responding to what the community wants and needs. I hope we can stay open for a really long time,” she says.
