I am currently doing research on the Rhododendron Drive-In Theater which operated in Florence from April 30, 1953 until some time at the end of 1979. According to cinematreasures.org, the theater had 1 screen and spots for 350 cars. I am currently interested in finding details about its amenities and screenings, as well as finding some general dates related to its ownership, closure, and site revivals since.
The theater was opened by Mr and Mrs Morrill E. Ritter Jr., who had come to Florence from Roseberg in 1937. The theater was also owned at some point in the 60s by Len Swain and Lloyd Claver, before being changed hands again to Don Hicks, who also operated the Harbor Theater on Bay Street. However, the specific dates of these changes as well as any details of the theater itself changing remain vague. By 1978 the property was city-owned and highly valuable, the final lease being approved just before that year’s season, paying either $1200 per year or 5% of the gross, whichever was greater, with the terms to be renegotiated in two years time. There would not be another lease, and by 1980 the area was being developed into a city park, which it remains to this day as softball and baseball fields.
The theater was notable for being the first drive-in Church in Oregon. In 1971, Rev. David Wormersley of the Assembly of God Church began to head services at the theater on Sundays mornings between Memorial and Labor day. This was inspired by a trip to a similar successful setup in Garden Grove, California. According to the Eugene Register-Guard, the reverend was "troubled by the hundreds of campers and fishermen who spend the weekend in the area without going to church," noting that "people just don't bring the kind of clothes on camping and fishing trips to go to church." Attendees would attend within the comforts of their own vehicles and listen to the services over the drive-in loudspeakers, each car being "like a separate family service with parents and children singing and praying together." The services continued for the 1972 summer season, though Wormersley had been replaced by Rev. Clifford Emery and Allen Dunbar due to being reassigned to a church in McMinnville. Another detail of note is that after the theater had closed, the Florence Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints attempted to buy property at the site of the old theater, though the request was denied.
