'We're like little kids again': Dunkirk drive

Caped canine Krypto the Superdog flew across the hulking Van Buren Drive-In screen on a recent Saturday night, as car wheels on gravel announced late-arriving moviegoers.

The showing of "DC League of Super-Pets" seemed apt, since it has taken something of a superhuman effort by Dan and Gina Beckley, at a cost of around $1 million, to revive the long-shuttered drive-in in Dunkirk. The outdoor theater was closed for 30 years, the remnants of a toppled screen from a tornado that swept through town 10 years ago strewn across the grounds.

During that time, the theater grounds were reclaimed by nature, rendering the two remaining structures – the original 1949 concession stand and ticket booth – barely visible. A brush hog cleared the growth and began the process of bringing the Van Buren Drive-In back to life.

Kids exit the concession stand as the pre-movie messages begin to play on the big screen.

There were 37 cars and 121 people there Saturday night. Some, like Mike Firman of Dunkirk, who had relatives that worked there in the 1950s and '60s, were returning to the Van Buren for the first time since they were young. Others, like Makayla Brisley and Micaya Burns, both 18 and living in Brocton, 9 miles away, were going to a drive-in for the first time.

And some attendees, with multiple generations in tow, were experiencing both together.

"We're excited! We're like little kids again," said Betty Phillips, a Jamestown resident who grew up in Brocton.

She was there with her daughter Mary, son-in-law Jason Decker and grandson Brycen, on his first trip to a drive-in.

"It takes us back to our childhood again," Decker said. "We grew up out here, so actually seeing it back up again – I think a lot of people will want to use it, especially for the younger generations."

To see a drive-in, they had been going to Waterford, Pennsylvania, 13 miles south of Erie.

"Now, it's right here in our backyard, and we have a grandson to take, too," Phillips said.

The Van Buren Drive-In is back in business. Dan and Gina Beckley have reopened the long-shuttered Dunkirk movie spot and brought it back to li…

The Beckleys are banking on families like this to make their risky drive-in venture succeed in northern Chautauqua County. The drive-in is actually in the Town of Pomfret, but when Dan Beckley was given a choice for a mailing address, he picked Dunkirk because of its better name recognition.

The collection of mostly rural towns and villages had just fewer than 128,000 residents in 2020, according to the U.S, Census, compared to more than 954,000 people in more populous Erie County.

Bryan Colt of Brockton laughs with Dan Beckley, owner of the Van Buren Drive-In, while waiting with his son Brody Colt, 8, to watch "DC League of Super-Pets."

"We have four kids, 20 years apart, so we have a lot of experience looking for places that appeal to everybody," Beckley said. "There's not a place like this in the Fredonia-Dunkirk area. And being on the lake, we have a big crowd that comes to the area for the summer. It seems like a good fit -- something we want to do and something I would think the area wants."

Heather Robinson of Perrysburg, sitting with Patrick Burke and daughter Rain in the back of their truck facing the screen, thinks so.

"They need more stuff like this around here," Robinson said. "There's not much to do that you can just bring your kids to."

The couple appreciated the free popcorn refills and the low ticket prices to watch a double feature under the stars.

"You can't beat the atmosphere and you definitely can't beat the price for two movies," Robinson said.

Gina Beckley hands Kayla Makosiej of Fredonia her credit card and a receipt while working at the concession stand with her husband, Dan Beckley, and their granddaughter, Kierra Beckley, 13.

Tickets are $10 for adults and children over 10, and $8 for kids 4 to 10, considerably below what indoor chains charge for first-run movies.

Digging in

The plight of drive-ins – also called "ozoners" for their height when they debuted in 1931 – has been well chronicled, with more than 90% having closed since their high-water mark of 4,063 in 1958.

Shifting cultural interests and skyrocketing land values saw the industry nearly collapse in the 1970s and '80s, when more than two-thirds of the nation's screen towers came down.

There were 318 drive-ins and 571 screens in September 2021, according to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association. The numbers have remained fairly steady in recent years.

Still, when a drive-in closes, it sends ripples of concern.

That was the case with the Sunset Drive-In, a mainstay in Middleport in eastern Niagara County, owned by the Stornelli family since 1950. The theater didn't reopen this year and is up for sale.

Rick Cohen, seeking to retire, sold the popular 5-screen Transit Drive-In earlier this year to Dipson Theatres, ending his family's 65-year ownership.

A trailer for "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" plays before the first feature, "DC League of Super-Pets."

The Beckleys joined the ranks of drive-in owners because of Covid-19.

Dan Beckley owns Advanced Production Group, a concert sound and lighting company whose clients include the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chautauqua Institution.

But on March 13, 2020, his business came to a screeching halt when New York State allowed venues to break multiyear contracts.

"One hundred percent of our contracts canceled," Beckley said.

That led the Beckleys to try something they had fantasized about for years.

"Driving by for so many years, we kept saying, wouldn't it be so cool to open a drive-in?" Beckley said. "After some soul searching, we said let's just do this drive-in thing and get all of our eggs out of one basket."

And so they did.

They bought the land, minutes from their Dunkirk home, and began from scratch. It took more than a year to get electric service and water and sewer hookups. A movie projector had to be purchased, along with lenses and computers to operate it. The refreshment stand had to be repaired and brought up to code.

Ella Abramowicz, 4, looks up at her mother, Erin Abramowicz, while cozied into their family pickup truck with her brother Evan, 8, before a showing of "DC League of Super-Pets."

Last of a kind

The biggest expense was $175,000 to erect the 62-foot by 30-foot screen installed by Selby Products of Richfield, Ohio.

Jerry Selby, 83, is the last remaining person still traveling the country to install drive-in screens. The company built by his father, John Selby, has installed more than 3,000 screens, "700 or 800" Selby estimates he has worked on beginning in the mid-1950s.

Selby said he couldn't turn down Beckley's request, even though he's tempted to hang it up.

"One of the reasons I haven't retired is the people today in the drive-in business are for the most part mom and pop, and they are good people and hardworking people," Selby said.

"I tell people I'm not the smartest guy in the world," he said. "There are a lot of things I don't understand, but I know drive-in screens better than anybody in the world."

The Beckleys observed how a form of entertainment long predicted to go the way of the dinosaur was suddenly relevant again because of Covid-19. Drive-ins were touted at the time by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as a safe outdoor venue made-to-order for social distancing. Besides movies, drive-ins were used for concerts, weddings, sports viewing, religious services and school graduations.

As a test run, the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Van Buren opened for six weeks on Oct. 1, 2021, well past peak drive-in season. Microwaved popcorn, prepackaged snacks and soda from coolers were served in tents. Power ran on generators and portable toilets were deployed.

"It was terrible, but it was fun and we did it," Beckley said.

The drive-in is operating on all cylinders this season. For the Beckleys, who grew up 37 miles southeast of Dunkirk in Little Valley, the business is a family affair, with their four children and a grandchild pitching in.

"The kids ride their bikes here every night, and they ride home with a flashlight," Gina Beckley said.

Projector light streams into the night, beaming from a back room in the concession stand.

The first celluloid images were projected by a chute of light onto the screen shortly after 8:30 p.m. Autumn, the second-oldest daughter, was making popcorn and selling concessions with Gina and Kierra, the granddaughter.

Dan prepared the projector and then manned the grill after the cook couldn't come to work.

A booth in the refreshment building became the Beckley family dinner table halfway through the first movie, timed so they would be finished before intermission.

Gina Beckley hands Kayla Makosiej of Fredonia her credit card and a receipt while working at the concession stand with her husband, Dan Beckley, and their granddaughter, Kierra Beckley, 13.

More screens planned

The Beckleys have big plans for the drive-in.

To diversify film audiences and broaden appeal, a second screen is planned by Easter, and a third is planned for next summer.

To make the drive-in more family-friendly, a playground is also planned in 2023.

Seeing another need, plans in 2024 call for a campground with water and sewer hookups for 20 RVs, along with 24 fire pits.

Longer term, the Beckleys hope to build a new refreshment building and possibly add a second near the campground.

Dan Beckley said they're trying to be creative with the programming. They are considering theme and sports watch nights, and are currently offering a jazz series called "Vibin' at the Drive-in."

Beckley expects it will take time to build a steady clientele. He said they're "roughly" meeting their break-even number of 180 cars a week.

It is also not all work and no play.

The couple recently found time to sneak away to watch "Elvis," the co-feature, sharing popcorn, peanut M&M's and Swedish Fish.

"Dan and I both sat in the truck, and it was kind of like a date," Gina said.

Mark Sommer covers preservation, development, the waterfront, culture and more. He's also a former arts editor at The News.

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News Staff Reporter

Mark Sommer covers culture, preservation, the waterfront, transportation, nonprofits and more. He's a former arts editor at The News.

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