The historic Skyview Drive-In theater in Litchfield, Illinois, landed a new owner earlier this month, and the operators pledge no big changes.
Gene Hebenstreit closed on the purchase of the Route 66 theater on April 14, according to his daughter Chelsey Semplowski during a phone interview Friday. The purchase price was not disclosed. Hebenstreit owns Victory Lane Ford and Victory Lane Outdoors, both in Litchfield.
Chesley, her brother Alec Hebenstreit and her husband Brandon Semplowski will operate the drive-in. They announced the ownership change earlier this month in a Facebook Live video with previous co-owner Mindy Pastrovich.
Chelsey said in the video that her father initially planned to turn the drive-in into a parking lot for his dealership’s RVs.
“I didn’t like the idea of the drive-in closing, so we decided to take it over,” she said.
Chelsey said Friday she and the rest of her “very close” family discussed the future of the drive-in shortly after it was under contract, and she and her brother decided to take over the Skyview’s operations with the full backing from her mother and father.
Gene instead will park his new RVs around the south perimeter of the property.
A chamber of commerce ribbon-cutting to commemorate the theater’s ownership change is scheduled for noon Monday in front of the marquee.
The Skyview will host its spring carnival on April 28-30. Its first films of the season will be “Jurassic World” and “Tremors” on May 5-6. Chesley said the Skyview will screen at least one first-run film per month.
Chesley said they will keep things “about the same” at the Skyview, with a few new additions in the coming days and weeks. Those will include flavored sodas, fresh-brewed teas and a new food vendor, TJ’s Pizza from St. Louis.
Pastrovich and other members of her family, who purchased the theater in 2016, will help Chelsey, Alec and Brandon with the transition.
“We won’t drop them on their rears,” Pastrovich said during the Facebook Live announcement.
Pastrovich also offered some advice: “Don’t take yourself seriously, and have fun.”
In October, the Skyview played a role in setting a Guinness world record for most dogs at drive-in with almost 400 canines during a showing of “A Dog’s Way Home.”
The Skyview was opened in 1950 by Frisina Enterprises, but much of its history is owed to Norman and Del Paul, who owned it for more than 30 years.
It is the last remaining original Route 66 drive-in in Illinois, and it was inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame.
(Hat tip to Jeff Meyer; image of the Sky View Drive-In by J Turner via Flickr)