Our City: History of Regina Drive in Theatres
Drive-Ins are an iconic part of Canadian/American History. Its origins go back to the 1910s but they truly flourished alongside a booming car industry and growing suburban population in the 1950s and 1960s. Regina was not excluded in this 50s fad, from 1949-1970 Regina’s citizens saw the opening of 4 drive-ins. Sadly, in the present day, all of Regina’s drive-ins are long gone, Cinema 6 was the last one to close in 2005.
Cinema 6 Marquee in 2004.
Cinema 6 Drive-In
The Cinema 6 Drive-In opened June 10th 1970 located on Highway 6, 2 miles south of Albert St. At 8:30 pm on the 10th Cinema 6 opened with “The Undefeated” and “The Way… Way Out”. In 1995 Cinema 6 changed ownership and in 2001 it closed. It reopened in 2002 and stayed open until 2005. The Cinema 6 sign stayed up until very recently and was only taken down as construction was conducted on Highway 6.
Queen City Drive-In
The Queen City Drive-In opened on September 19, 1950, and was located on the Trans Canada Highway West. Its first showing was “Mother wore tights”. The Queen City Drive-In closed September 13, 1981, the last showings were “Friday the 13th” and “Friday the 13th part 2”.
Starlight Drive-In
The Starlight Drive-In opened on April 17th, 1954, and was located on Victoria Ave one mile east of Broad St. Its first showing was “The Younger Brothers”, which was a movie about the Calgary Stampede. The Starlight Drive-In closed on October 10th, 1981, and it closed with a movie marathon. From dusk to dawn the movies “Paternity”, “Urban Cowboy”, “Survive”, “The Warriors”, and “Sunburn” were played.
Skylark Drive-In
The Skylark Drive-In was the first drive-in movie theatre to open in Regina. It opened on August 6th, 1949, with “One Touch of Venus”. It was located at 1st Avenue N. and Angus Street, Regina. The Skylark was not open long; it closed on September 18th, 1950.
Cinema 6 after switching to FM audio transmissions.
Drive-In Theatres Decline
In the 1970s, drive-ins were in decline, because of the 70s oil crisis cars got smaller (making it more uncomfortable to watch a movie in your car), also drive-ins started showing more horror movies and adult content (losing their family-friendly image), and as technology progressed it became more appealing to watch movies from home (VCR).