Drive-in Theater in Mitchell Becomes History

MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) — An outdoor theater in Mitchell that was built in 1949 has shut down.

The Starlite Drive-In showed one last movie on Saturday night to a sold-out crowd of several hundred cars.

Jeff Logan has owned the theater since 1976. He's shutting it down because of the movie industry's conversion to digital production. He says the drive-in doesn't make enough money to warrant the investment in new equipment, and he's focusing instead on indoor theaters he owns in Mitchell, Huron and Dell Rapids.

Pat Clark got his first job at the theater 50 years ago, when he was 16. He says he understands the economics but he's still bummed out that the Starlite is now history.

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