Previous December Find of the Month


December 2022

Sundown and Starlight

Canberra's Drive-In Theatres

Sundown Drive-In Theatre - 19701

The mention of drive-in theatres will conjure up fond memories for many of us. It wasn’t just going out to watch a movie. It involved piling into your car with family or friends, or both, depending on your age. The movie intervals allowed time to grab refreshments from the café and, for those who were regular visitors, it is likely you have suffered at least once the humiliation of driving off at the end of the movie with an audio speaker attached to the car door. Some drive-in theatres still exist in Australia, but they were most popular in the 1950s through to the 1970s. Canberrans often chose to take advantage of this form of entertainment rather than indoor movies or the television. So much so that a growing population created a demand for more than one drive-in movie theatre. This month’s article draws from leasing files relating to Canberra’s two drive-in movie sites.

The novelty of drive-in movie entertainment in Australia is thought to have first emerged in 1954.[i] The following year the Commonwealth Department of the Interior received a request from Frederick Turton, who lived in Sydney, to establish a drive-in site in the ACT. He was first offered a site on the Cotter Road, but Turton then made further representations for the site to be located on the ‘Federal Highway (Goulburn Road)’.[ii] The site was on land for which an existing rural lease was held by Hector Hamilton. The need to provide drive-in entertainment in Canberra was considered a necessity so arrangements were made quickly to withdraw the small parcel of land from the rural lease. This land is now taken up with urban development but at the time it was very much in a rural setting. An inspector’s report on the rural lease filed in 1950 notes that the eastern boundary fencing on the lease was not satisfactory, the status of noxious weeds was satisfactory and that there were some ‘indications of odd loose rabbits’.[iii]

Starlight Drive-in site (shaded) on block 98F2

This parcel of land, approximately six acres, was home to the Starlight Drive-In Theatre for nearly forty years. It was then outside the city area and was yet to have a water main connection. There were other development proposals being considered at the same time in the vicinity, such as a House of Studies for the Roman Catholic Sacred Heart Order, a showground and a motel, which helped to convince planners to extend the water supply to the area.

Planning for a second drive-in for Canberra was discussed as early as 1958 after another request was received from a company based in Melbourne. The applicant was however informed that no land was available for this purpose as it was not considered ‘necessary or desirable at the present time, having regard to the short experience of the existing venture’.[i] The operator of the Starlight Drive-In noted that business was ‘very lean’ during the winter months and there was hesitation to commit to more drive-ins due to the ‘possible advent of television in Canberra in the next few years’.[ii] Nonetheless, some forward planning was being done within the department as it was thought at some future date there would be a need for a second drive-in.

Some initial research was done on population and drive-in numbers in other capital and regional cities but a memorandum noted that statistics from other cities wouldn’t provide a simple answer to Canberra’s situation. Some of the reasons listed for this include:

  • There is higher rate of ownership of cars in Canberra.
  • The average income level in Canberra is relatively high and this might be used to argue that people here could afford to own a TV set and still patronise a drive-in theatre.
  • There is a very high proportion of young adults in this community and it has been argued that television has less attraction for them.[iii]

By 1962 the Starlight Drive-In had a capacity of 750 cars that became a ‘very profitable’ venture in the summer months. The planning for a second drive-in site continued based on expected population growth and the belief that the drive-in theatre experience would continue to be popular in Canberra.

Detail of plan for second twinning screen for Starlight Drive-In3

The popularity did continue. It wasn’t long before planners were convinced that a second drive-in was required. Some interest in 1965 from potential investors, such as Regent Film Distributors, helped to kick off a search for a suitable site for the second theatre with widespread agreement that it should be located on the south side of the Molonglo River. Town planners Leith and Bartlett were engaged and suggested that a site on the corner of Jerrabomberra Avenue and Narrabundah Lane in Narrabundah be used. They also recommended that a tender process be run for the disposal of the lease.

Site chosen (shaded red) for the Sundown Drive-In Theatre4

It was a local company, Southern Drive-In Pty Ltd, that was the successful tenderer and Canberra’s second drive-in theatre was trading by March 1969 from the Narrabundah site. Conditions required that the development could accommodate 1,000 cars and that it would include a restaurant, snack bar, toilet facilities and children’s playground equipment. The operators boasted that they were the first Australian drive-in to install in-car heaters for the winter months. This may have been a necessity given Canberra’s chilly winter nights and hopefully it at least alleviated the need for viewers to start up their vehicles to keep warm.[i]

Canberra’s two drive-in theatres operated at the same time for around 15 years and it seems they both proved profitable until the mid-1980s. It was then that the operators of both the Starlight and Sundown started investigating what other business ventures might provide better returns. Television on its own wasn’t the threat to drive-ins that was forecast by some, until it was combined with VHS and VCR technology in Canberra homes. This made it easier for consumers to select the movies they wanted to watch in the comfort (and warmth) of their own homes.

hanging technology wasn’t the only factor that made it difficult for drive-in theatres to survive. Greater demand for housing and other accommodation also contributed. The last drive-in movie was shown at the Sundown venue in May 1984 and the site later used for tourist accommodation.[i] The Starlight venue continued to operate as a drive-n theatre until 1993 when it made way for motel accommodation. The iconic Starlight sign however still stands beside the Federal Highway.

Sundown Drive-In Theatre sign 19705

Ready to start your own research?

Contact us through our Request a Record service and we will be happy to help.

References

i List of drive-in theatres in Australia, Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 September 2022. Date retrieved: 25 November 2022 03:02. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_drive-in_theatres_in_Australia&oldid=1111497674 .

ii ArchivesACT, TL7794#02 – Block 98F Gungahlin – Hector Ian Hamilton – (Includes Approval Drive-In Site 1955)

iii ibid.

iv ArchivesACT, SP2001#1 – Watson061-05.

v ibid.

vi ibid.

vii ArchivesACT, SP2689#1 – Symonston097-06; also Advertising (1985, March 8). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 11. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122501942 .

viii ibid.

Images

1 – Image courtesy of National Archives of Australia. NAA: A1500, K23441.

2 - ArchivesACT, TL7794#02 – Block 98F Gungahlin – Hector Ian Hamilton – (Includes Approval Drive-In Site 1955)

3 - ArchivesACT, SP2001#1 – Watson061-05.

4 – ArchivesACT, SP2689#1 – Symonston097-06.

5 - Image courtesy of National Archives of Australia. NAA: A1500, K23442.

File Readers/Viewers

If you do not already have compatible software on your computer, free file readers/viewers can be downloaded from the following links.