BELMONT, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The owners of the Belmont Drive-In Theater have kicked off the first full season of film for the first time since the theater closed in 2014.
The Pentecost family’s history dates back to when their parents and grandparents Bill and Peggy Lawing worked at and eventually bought the theater in the 1980s.
Their kids had to close the theater down in 2014 due to the rising costs of operations and the industry-changing addition of digital projectors.
In 2023, however, nine years after its closure, the Pentecost family reopened the drive-in for a soft opener which lasted three months.
“It was our way to get our feet wet,” explained Casey Pentecost.
She runs the operations along with the rest of her family and said the three months was a validation they needed to make major movements to fully restore this family heirloom.
During the winter off-season, the family made significant changes to the theater, which included changing out panels on the big screen, and completely restoring the marquee to its original signage from the 80s.
The one thing that was not touched was the $25 per car ticket price charged.
“We gotta keep y’all here to keep us going,” she explained.
Friday evening, the family welcomed more than 100 families to the first showing of a seven-month-long stretch of movie-viewing weather, with surprises thrown in along the way.
To keep track of movies being shown, click here.
