Last drive-in in SA closes down
The closure of the Menlyn Park Drive-in marks the end of an era, as it is the last of its kind in SA. Management says technical difficulties prompted the decision to close.
Many Pretoria people have fond memories of the drive-in on the roof of the Menlyn Park shopping centre, as more than one love-struck man has proposed to his future wife there. The news that this part of Pretoria’s cinema history will be closing down, with the last screening of films at the end of February, sparked a flurry of interest from people who wished to take their sweethearts to this top of the roof cinema.
According to Andrea de Witt, the marketing manager of Menlyn Park, they received numerous phone calls from people wishing to reserve a parking at the drive-in on Valentine’s Day. “People are trying hard to acquire a parking spot at the drive-in, and they couldn’t care less what film is showing. Many people have phoned us throughout the years telling us that they proposed to their wives at this cinema,” she said.
The Velskoen Drive-in in Randburg closed its doors in June 2012, which left the Menlyn Park Drive-in as the only drive-in cinema of its kind in South Africa. Previously, there were some 50 drive-ins countrywide, which attracted thousands of cinema-goers with picnic baskets packed with goodies. “As this era is coming to an end, both locally and abroad, we regret to announce that due to technical restraints, the drive-in at the Menlyn Park shopping centre is closing down at the end of February. These technical constraints are due the fact that all films are now digital, which means obtaining old 35mm films becomes increasingly difficult. This theatre still has an old 35mm projector,” she said.
According to De Witt, the drive-in has held 8 736 shows with 1 005 088 people watching. Several thousand cars with cinema patrons have visited the cinema since it started. De Witt remained tight-lipped about what is to become of the space left by the drive-in. “All that I can say is that the drive-in space will be re-purposed for another first for Pretoria in recreation and entertainment – more of that news will be released later,” she said.
“The last public showing of movies atthe Menlyn Park Drive-in will be on Friday, 28 February. We encourage patrons to make it down to the drive-in during the month of February to bid farewell to this Pretoria icon. The last week of screening films in this drive-in will be for free,” she said.
