another one going...not many are left...

At least my son, Charlie, got to see a show there before it left…

Last show for Skyview Drive-In?

Subdivision could replace longtime outdoor cinema

BY WILL BUSS

Belleville, IL News-Democrat/www.bnd.com

BELLEVILLE (bnd.com) -- It may be closing credits for the area's last drive-in theater.

The Skyview Drive-In at 5700 N. Belt West in Belleville is for sale, and a couple of potential buyers are looking into converting the 17.5-acre twin-screened lot and adjacent -- and long-shuttered --Quad Cinema into housing.

Wayne Barber, of the Swansea real estate firm Barber-Murphy Group, which is listing the property, said two parties are conducting separate feasibility studies on the site. Barber said he expects results from both studies in the next 30 days. He also believes the land could be ideal for retail development, too.

"We believe the front part of the property on North Belt West is ideal for commercial retail development, and there is a possibility for some kind of mixed-use to the entire property that could be used for commercial and residential," Barber said.

The drive-in theater, with its iconic neon sign of a blue, red and white, soaring, rocketlike plane has been in Steven Bloomer's family for years. Bloomer inherited the drive-in in 1992 after his father died. His grandfather and two great uncles built Skyview and opened it with a 60-foot screen in 1949. Bloomer said the property has been on the auction block for the past five years, while business has been "very good." However, he said the land has become more valuable for development.

"It's a six-month business, and it sits there doing nothing for six months out of the year," Bloomer said. "And while it generates good money, certainly, with the right person with the right offer on the land, it would make more sense. This is what happens to a lot of drive-in theaters. The land becomes more valuable."

Bloomer also said that a new owner may still keep the drive-in up and running because the property could be sold in outlots.

"Selling outlots are part of the equation as well as several different possibilities there that we're pursuing," he said. "We're looking at different possibilities."

Barber said the property is listed for $2.2 million, but it may also be sold on a square-foot basis for between $1.15 and $4.50 per square foot. He also sees several redevelopment possibilities.

"There was a focus before on the larger retail development, anticipating what we would call big-box users like Kmart or something of that nature, but with the change of traffic and development on (Illinois) Route 15, now at Frank Scott Parkway, we don't see that," he said. "We see smaller retail potential with residential or some other mixed use."

The drive-in opened when Bloomer was 1 1/2 years old. He said his is the last in the St. Louis area since the North Twin Drive-In in North St. Louis closed about five years ago.

Although he is pursuing a sale, Bloomer said it would be sad to see the Skyview go.

"Sure it would," he said. "I like to go there. I'm usually there on Friday and Saturday night, and if I'm not busy working, I like to visit with the crowds."

Life-long Belleville resident and entrepreneur John Bigalke, whose Beatnik's in downtown Belleville is known for selling T-shirts screen-printed with witticisms and hometown pride, said he wouldn't like to see the drive-in close, but isn't against the sale, either.

"I'd think it would be a shame to see the drive-in close, but if that's what happens, that's what happens," Bigalke said. "I used to go there a lot and hang out there all of the time with my friends in high school. I suppose I would miss it, but the times must change."