By Jessica Christensen
After 54 years of double features, the Cox family is selling Provo”s Pioneer Twin Drive-In Theatre to developers.
The value of the land increased such that selling it is more lucrative than maintaining the theater, said co-owner Kathy Cox.
“Land values and taxes are so high on property now that it”s not even economical to run a drive-in,” Cox said.
The last night of business was supposed to be June 14, which was then extended to July 19.
However, three of the four movies at the drive-in were top ten box office hits last week. So the actual date of closure is still in question.
“We anticipate that it will be fairly soon but we”re not certain of an exact date right now,” said purchaser Don Mullen of Orem. “The time it takes is just a normal part of development.”
Marv and Jeanine Cox opened the drive-in in 1947 and have worked there every summer night for 46 years, until Marv”s illness seven years ago. They leased the drive in to Wes Webb of Salt Lake City.
After her husband”s death a year ago, Jeanine Cox felt that it was time to sell the theater.
“Now that my husband is gone and I”m older, I think it”s time that we had a break,” she said.
Mullen plans to make good use of the valuable land.
“Part of the project is going to be residential – there will be town homes and single-family homes and the front part is commercial,” Mullen said. “What we”d like to see in there is a grocer and a strip mall.”
He thinks there will be an increased need for retail in the area.
“As the area gets cleaned up and as we get more residents in there then it should increase the likelihood for success of a grocer or other tenets in a strip mall,” Mullen said.
Webb considered the lease a good investment.
“I owned the drive-in in Springville so when (the Cox”s) decided not to operate it anymore, it seemed natural for me to have both drive-ins rather than have a competitive situation,” Webb said.
He closed the Art City Drive-In because he felt that devoting time to the twin theater was a better use of his time.
Jeanine Cox recalled her earliest memories of the drive-in.
“My husband built that theater and it was the first in Utah County,” she said. “When we first opened it was a dollar a car on Monday and Tuesday. We washed all the car windows as they went in.”
Like in the movies, the employees took orders and delivered the food to the cars.
“When I first started working out there I was a carhop and had to go around to every single car, knock on the window, get their order, and take back their hamburgers and stuff before intermission,” Jeanine Cox said.
Many local residents are disappointed to see the last drive-in in Utah County close.
“I feel bad for the high school students that won”t get to go on dates to the drive-in,” said Brooke Perkins, 20, a senior from Orem majoring in biology teaching.
Not only was the drive-in a place for dates, it was also a good environment for families.
“I remember all of us packing up the mini van with candy, popcorn, lawn chairs, and blankets when I was young,” said Terra Reary of Springville.
The Cox”s would not play R-rated movies because they insisted that the drive-in was for families.
“We had so many articles done on our theater because so many were closing and they wondered why the Pioneer was filling up all the time,” said Jeanine Cox. “It”s mainly because we wouldn”t play R”s in this kind of an environment.”
“I think it”s a real sad thing,” she said. “We raised our kids here. It kept our family close and it was a wonderful thing for us.”
Webb said drive-ins in Utah Valley are a thing of the past.
“I doubt very much if you”ll see any drive-ins built from scratch, especially in Utah County with the price of land and the cost of developing one and operating it on a seasonal basis,” Webb said.
