BUSINESS + ECONOMY

‘End of an era’: Motor-Vu Drive-In will soon be demolished to make way for housing

May 28, 2024, 5:00 AM | Updated: 10:44 am

The site of the old Motor-Vu Drive-In...

The site of the old Coleman's Motor-Vu Drive-In, located in Riverdale, photographed Thursday. The process to demolish the drive-in has started. (Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)

(Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)

RIVERDALE, Utah— Trees around the now-shuttered site of a Riverdale drive-in are coming down, and demolition of the screens, entry and other structures is imminent as moves to convert the site into a housing development spring forward.

“It’s the end of an era, for sure,” said Brandon Cooper, the Riverdale community development director. Just four drive-ins now remain in Utah, according to DriveInMovie.com, a website focused on promotion and preservation of the outdoor theaters.

Related: Working Americans are worried about their future finances

News of the looming demise of Coleman’s Motor-Vu Drive-In publicly emerged in 2022, when the owners announced movies would no longer be shown until further notice. Simultaneously, news emerged that the 20-acre site where the drive-in sits had been rezoned to allow for housing. The drive-in opened in 1947, and the grounds also housed a weekend swap meet in later years.

Now, according to Cooper, the redevelopment initiative — the site’s to be called Coleman Vu Estates — seems to be moving ahead at full bore. Trees have been razed off 1050 West, near the entry to the site, and Cooper said demolition is set to commence next week. Asphalt will be removed and the screens used to show movies will be torn down, along with the covered drive-thru entry, where moviegoers once paid for their tickets.

Read more about the Motor-Vu Drive-In on KSL.com

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‘End of an era’: Motor-Vu Drive-In will soon be demolished to make way for housing