Kenosha – An article in Businessweek reported not long agothat the number of drive-ins in America has dwindled from over 4,000 in the 1960s to about 360.
America’s last remaining drive-ins — the majority of which are still family-owned and seasonally operated — could soon be gone.
The Keno Drive-in in Kenosha joins the list of a dying culture in America.
Just weeks before a public hearing on a new plan for the site at 91st Street and Sheridan Road, owner Bear Development terminated its lease with Cinema Management Corp. The Glenview, Ill.-based company was on its last year of a nine-year contract to run the drive-in.
Bear Development is seeking adoption of an alternative for the Barnes Creek Neighborhood Plan that would include a 150,000-square-foot retail center, possibly a Wal-Mart Supercenter, for the site.
A “Save The Kenosha Keno Drive In — April 2015 Group” has been started on Facebook. Organizers are calling for a protest and a letter-writing campaign to save the Kenosha Keno Drive In.
“The community is lacking family-friendly activities. I can take my 12-year-old and my 3-year-old to a drive-in movie. We don’t need more stores,” said Kenosha resident Kelly Pederson.
There is a public meeting planned to discuss the site beginning at 3 p.m. April 13 in the Pleasant Prairie Village Hall, 9915 39th Ave.
