![]() ![]() Founder Khairy Sharif, 26, was working in flooring and found business was drying up due to COVID-19. Space City Shows was creatively born from pandemic adversity. In Houston, four downtown drive-ins that popped up recently are powered by varying interests. It was a place for families and sometimes dates, as seen in the popular drive-in feature Grease. There were snacks that you could prop on the door of your car and, often, a double-feature. ![]() “The best seats,” says Khairi Sharif, owner of Space City Shows, “are the ones you bring.”ĭuring the rise of car culture in the 1950s, drive-ins appeared at the edges of towns where there was ample space to park hundreds of cars, set up a large screen, and not bother neighbors. In this upside-down time, these sorts of dualities work. It’s a way of being together while being separate, out in a field in the middle of downtown Houston, in front of a gargantuan glowing screen, with radio-quality sound coming in through the intimacy of car speakers. The drive-in experience itself, especially in Houston, rests on a series of oxymorons and unusual pairings. Now that so many crowd-centric entertainment options are off the table due to the ongoing concerns about COVID-19, watching a movie on the big screen outdoors from within the confines of one’s car is at once social and safe. You can find more of her writing and art at follow her on Instagram where she shares her family’s adventures, encouragement and weird humor like the backyard telenovela and reviews of made-for-TV Christmas movies.Out of the pandemic rubble, a crop of drive-in movie theaters has bloomed in downtown Houston, each within a few miles of the other. She has a passion for mental health, exploration and encouraging others to see the world, follow their dreams, and live life brazenly. ![]() Chris is currently writing a book about their home fire journey. They opened in 2006 with two screens, space for around 800 cars, a playground, a snack bar, stand up paddle board in tow. Drive-In Movie Theaters in Houston Showboat Drive-In Movie TheaterĢ2422 FM 2920, Hockley, 28, What was once a horse pasture is now Showboat Drive-In Movie Theater. Around 20 drive-ins remain active in Texas, two of which are in Houston. Over the years the number of drive-ins dwindled, and today it’s estimated only around 320 are still around across the United States. The Chocolate Bayou Drive-In near Airport Blvd. The Airline Drive-In off I-45 and Airline is now an area smattered with retail stores. Houston’s own Thunderbird Twin Drive-In on Clay Road is now home to the Waste Management recycling center. Many drive-in owners sold their land to developers for new neighborhoods or retail development. Drive-ins offered more flexibility than an indoor theatre, the whole family could attend, and kids were free to run off their energy when needed.Īs cities like Houston began to grow, the value of the 15+ acres it took to run a drive-in outweighed the income families were receiving from running them. The Loew’s Sharpstown Drive-In near Bellaire and Hillcroft even had children’s train that gave rides through a tunnel at the base of the screen. Many boasted restaurants and playgrounds for the kids. During the peak of drive-ins, Houston housed more than 20 within Beltway 8, which was still considered rural at the time.ĭrive-ins were a popular date night location and destination for the whole family. Drive-ins of the day were in rural areas, and family run. By 1958 there were over 4,000 drive-ins across the United States. Seven years later, in the beginning of June, Houston’s first drive-in opened, The South Main Drive-In. In June 1933 the first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, New Jersey advertised with the slogan, “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are”. History of Drive-In Movie Theaters in Houston Interestingly enough, this was the exact original selling point of the drive-in theater, proof that aspects of motherhood haven’t changed all that much over the years. As a mother of a toddler the freedom to see a new release was finally back within my grasp. We could go to a movie without the pressure of being “on our best behavior” or absolutely quiet. I didn’t have to worry if my kid suddenly had the urge to ask me a question, needed to use the bathroom or run through the theater in the middle of a movie. When I became a mom I realized there was a new benefit to drive-ins. My first experience with drive-ins was in college, where we were lucky enough to still have an operating drive-in nearby. There’s something special about watching a movie, outside, under the stars. I’ve always had a secret personal obsession with Drive-In movie theaters. ![]()
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