Extract from ABC News
Tivoli Drive In Theatre closed this week citing increased maintenance costs and reduced attendance. (Supplied: Tivoli Drive In Theatre)
In short:
The Tivoli Drive-In in Ipswich has closed down, almost 50 years after it first opened.
Pastor Fred Muys said it had been an "honour" to run the theatre, and described the closure as one of his "big regrets".
It is the latest in a series of closures of drive-in theatres around Australia.
One of the last remaining drive-in theatres in south-east Queensland has closed down, citing cost issues and declining attendance numbers.
The Tivoli Drive-In opened in 1976 in the Ipswich suburb of Chuwar and ran until 2000 when it first closed down.
Three years later, the property was bought by the Rivers of Life Christian Church, who reopened the cinema in 2008 with a focus on low-cost family entertainment.
But Pastor Fred Muys said the cost of running the cinema, as well as looming maintenance and upgrade expenses of almost $1 million, meant the economics "just aren’t there anymore."
The Tivoli is the latest drive-in theatre to close down in Queensland. (Supplied: Tivoli Drive In Theatre)
"Unfortunately over the last five years, the drive-in cinemas and cinema industry have gone backwards with the advance of streaming movies," he said.
Pastor Muys said the number of families visiting the drive-in had dropped in recent years.
"Ten years ago we were running at 300-plus families a week. Now we often average about 100 and more recently below 100," he said.
He said a series of wet weekends in recent months had also taken a toll.
"We had thought we might stay open through until February or March but the prospect of a very wet summer just basically brought everything on here," he said.
From a peak of more than 50 drive-in cinemas in Queensland, many have been lost to Brisbane's suburban expansion. (State Library Queensland: Rob Tonge)
Pastor Muys said the decision was a sad one and one of his "big regrets."
"It's been a real honour to be able to go out and see families sat out there to enjoy the drive-in," he said.
The news was met with disappointment from locals.
Ipswich resident Caitlin Schiewe said she had taken her family to the drive-in every few weeks for the last nine years and was "devastated" by the news of the closure.
"Our eldest is nine and we started going when she was a baby. It was a way to get out of the house," she said.
"You didn’t have to worry about the kids making noise and honestly, it was a cheap night out which was a really big drawcard."
"The kids are going to be devastated when I tell them."
There are now just five drive-in theatres left in Queensland, from a peak of more than 50 during the 1960s – and around a dozen operating across Australia.
Dr Elizabeth Heck from the University of Queensland said it was sad to see the era gradually fading.
Dr Heck said there were a multitude of factors to blame for the decline of what was once a popular Australian pastime – including the "suburban squeeze".
Dr Elizabeth Heck says many of the original drive-in cinemas have been pushed out by expanding surbubia. (Image: Supplied)
"If you look at areas like Aspley and Keperra where a lot of housing estates had gone in the sixties and seventies – there’s the need for land that was once considered more affordable."
Then there's the impact of convenience, as more streaming services are offered to the average consumer.
"That’s a real pinch for cinemas, even regular cinemas have been feeling the squeeze from streaming services so I imagine that would be amplified for drive-in cinemas," Dr Heck said.
But she said not to underestimate the impact of nostalgia, with some older technologies attracting younger age groups.
"Vinyl is a great indication of that, and 35mm film is making a resurgence as well," she said.
"I think people like to recapture that and there’s something about that older form of technology that’s really recapturing a lot of interest."
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