Skylark Drive-In Grand Opening was on Monday, July 25, 1949
The cost was low, Adults .50 cents
There were fireworks Display at dusk, free Pony Rides, Bottle Warmers and a Diaper Service
The feature film on opening night was "South Of St Louis" staring Joel McCrea
The Skylark Drive-In was the second Durwood drive-in to be built
It was built in 1949 with a car capacity of 600
It was located across the Belt Highway from the Belt Bowl
In June of 1955, the Skylark Drive-In started to screen CinemaScope movies
Over the years the Skylark Drive-In screened mostly family, comedies, westerns, adventure and drama movies
The Skylark was managed and operated for many years by the James Kibble family
Chester & Harriet McGaughey managed the theater until it's closing in 1982
The last two movies shown were "Poltergeist" & "Clash of the Titans"
On July, 11th 1982, a fire started in the concession stand 2 hours before it was due to open that Sunday night, causing $30,000 in damage
The Skylark Drive-In did not reopen for the remainder of the 1982 drive-in season
It did not open for the 1983 drive-in season either
Everett Hughes, the Crown Cinema director of operations, commented if it did reopen it would be at half of the 600-car capacity
The attendances at the Skylark Drive-In was on the downhill before the fire and it was not profitable anymore to continue operation
It was decided in 1984 to demolish the Skylark Drive-In
Mr Hughes decided to redevelope the property into retail stores and health services offices
The lot sat empty for many years before selling a part of it to Venture
Venture built a new department store on the south end of the property and remained in business for at least 10 years
Heartland Hospital remodeled the Venture store and currently occupies the location for it's offices
Hy-Vee, numerous stores, a bank and a strip mall now occupy the Northeast area
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