A far western Kentucky drive-in theater is set to reopen after being acquired by new ownership this week.
Local husband-and-wife duo Seth and Tabitha Manea announced they had purchased the Calvert Drive-In Wednesday on social media.
The Marshall County drive-in, started by the Harrington family in the 1950s, has been a local and regional draw for nearly seven decades. Its gates closed in 2021 after the death of owner Evelyn Harrington.
The Manea’s are planning to open the drive-in for the season in early June. They aren’t planning on changing much at the drive-in, though possible plans include mixing in some “throwback” movies in its film lineup and extending the length of its season. Mostly, they plan to carry on the Harrington family’s legacy of serving up burgers and screening movies.
“We just basically want to keep it the way that they had it just to keep the tradition going,” Tabitha said.
“We can tell their heart is in this. It's been in this for the past 68 years and we're definitely happy to be a part of this and thankful for that opportunity. We want to take the same care of this place as they did for so long,” Seth said. “We want to run this how they ran it for so many years and continue what they had going. We don't plan on making any changes unless we absolutely have to.”
Since the drive-in closed, a Facebook group dedicated to saving the business had garnered more than 3,500 members. The community response to the announcement has been “overwhelming” for the couple.
“I mean, we knew that the community would be happy to see this back because we're part of this community and we want it back,” Seth said. “I just had to turn my phone off last night and just sleep on it because it was a little overwhelming… but in a good way.”
Once reopened, the Calvert Drive-In will be one of the less than ten drive-in theaters still operating in Kentucky. Others include the Skyline Theater in Summersville, the Sauerbeck Family Drive-In in LaGrange, the Judy Drive-In in Mount Sterling, the Bourbon Drive-In in Paris and the Stanford Drive-In in Stanford.
