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 History |
The Bay Drive-In
Theater was one of the last New York Drive-Ins to be built during the drive-in
craze of the 1940’s – 1960’s. Constructed in 1968 on 6 acres of land and
featuring a single screen with a 300 car capacity, it was originally designed to
replace the 1000 Island Drive-In that was torn down and is now part of Exit 50
on Interstate 81. That single screen provided entertainment for a generation.
But by the early 1980’s it was a bit long in the tooth. Movie quality was
dropping, patronage was dropping, and the plant and equipment was vintage Drive
In (1950’s). Competition from VCR rentals was taking its toll. |
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By 1992, with first
run movies being shown again and patronage on the rise, the management embarked
on a long overdue upgrade to the facility. The snackbar was completely rebuilt
and enlarged, the restrooms were rebuilt and the only indoor seating area at a
drive-in in New York was added. |
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At 4:20am on the morning of Saturday, July 15, 1995, they experienced Microburst 95,
the worst wind storm in recent NY history. The theatre was extensively
damaged including the building roof structure and the face of the screen.
Within 9 days the theatre was back in full operation. When the movie, "Twister"
was released in 1996, they had lived the experience shown at the drive-in
theatre in that feature.
MORE SCREENS = MORE MOVIES
In 1999 a smaller second
screen was added with the purchase of an adjacent parcel sized for 200 cars.
They did lose two back rows in Cinema I, lowering the total capacity to about
550 cars.
The second
screen went into operation July 30, 1999..
With the addition of another
screen, 4 movies are now shown nightly and because of rotating movies between
screens, they can provide an increased number of movie premiers.
In August, 2001 they opened
a “County Fair” style Concession Stand for Cinema II serving premium fair style
sandwiches along with all the regular Cinema I menu. A full line of Pepsi
products is available in Cinema II, as opposed to the Coke products available in
the Cinema I Concession Stand
In 2003 they were honored by
MovieMaker Magazine as one of the 10 best Drive-ins in the country. On June 17th
2006 the new Cinema II restrooms were completed to shorten their patrons walk to
a facility. In 2007 the Cinema I restrooms were expanded and modernized.
So the once “new kid on the
block” has become the oldest continuously operating drive-in theater in
Jefferson County that will continue to provide premium first run movies, value
priced concession, an impressive website (www.baydrivein.com) and the best seat
in the “house” for the spectacular 1000 Islands sunsets.
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