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Dayton Memories >
Dayton Speedway & Sunset Drive-in
Dayton Speedway & Sunset Drive-in
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jack1953
57 posts
Dec 18, 2013
6:27 PM
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Hey all,
My grandparents used to live out in the country on Lyleburn Road. To leave their house and go Dayton, we had to go right by the Dayton Speedway and the Sunset Drive-in.
I have been gone from Dayton since 1981.
Does anyone know what is now where the Sunset Drive-in was, and also I know the Dayton Speedway closed up, but is the physical track and stands still standing?
Thanks,
Jack
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Forgiven, forgotten, set free!!
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Curt Dalton
741 posts
Dec 18, 2013
6:35 PM
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Sunset Cruise-In
The Sunset Cruise-In, which opened on April 29, 1949, was aptly named. Located at 4149 Germantown Pike in Dayton, the screen was positioned so that the sun set behind it in the evenings. Patrons to the grand opening watched the classic ‘Adventures of Robin Hood’, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland.
At first the drive-in showed family films, but as business declined over the years, this changed.
“It was showing X-rated flicks and people didn’t want that,” says Alan Doll, who was general manager of B.A.C. Theatres from 1966 to 1979. “Max Milbauer decided to buy the theater. He was underfinanced, so he went to the board of directors of the Belmont Auto Theatre and said, hey, would you like to buy the Sunset? Since it wasn’t doing well at the time, they said no.”
It wasn’t long, though, before Milbauer changed their minds.
Max and Elvin Doll did the booking of the films for the Belmont Auto Drive-in. “The thought was that, if we had two drive-ins we’d have a little bit more buying power to compete for certain films,” says Joe Flory, one of the original owners of the Belmont. “So we stuck our necks out and bought the Sunset in 1958.”
When Alan Doll was hired as general manager, the Sunset was barely generating enough profits to remain open. The theater was in disrepair, but Alan was determined to bring it “up to snuff”.
“If you want a good business you have to have a good product,” claims Alan. “Our product was the theater. And it looked awful. So we started coordinating with colored lights, making the theater look nice and putting lights along the side ramps.”
The next step was to find a marquee for the drive-in.
“Parkmoor (restaurant) had a great big sign. They took the Parkmoor and tore it down. While they were there I walked over and said, hey, who do I talk to about buying the sign? They looked at me kind for strange, but we made a deal. I think we paid, oh, $500 for a thirty, forty thousand dollar sign.”
Lester Binkman, called Binkie by his friends, was usually hired by Alan’s company to do their neon work, but in this case he didn’t have the equipment to move the sign.
“It was moved by a company in Kettering. The business picked up the sign and he ended up getting it erected, but he didn’t finish the job. We couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Here we are, we’ve got the Parkmoor sign up at the Sunset and it really looked sharp, got everything we wanted changed on it changed, but it couldn’t be lit up, it hadn’t been hooked up.”
Unfortunately, the company responsible for the moving and repairs had suddenly gone out of business. “We had to hire someone else to finish the job,” says Alan, “and that was Binkie.”
Alan renamed the theater Sunset Drive-in to reflect the changes he hoped to make. He also changed the way the booking for the movies was done.
“I started getting to know the people in the community and nobody was catering to them.” He vowed to change that. “I said let’s give the people what they want to see. Once I started doing that, business started picking up. The Sunset went from making thirteen thousand dollars a year to thirty, forty, sixty, two hundred thousand dollars a year. The Sunset was a totally different environment when I ran it.”
Unfortunately for both the Sunset and the community, Alan decided in 1979 to make a career change. The theater stayed open for only three years more, closing in the fall of 1982.
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supersix
163 posts
Dec 19, 2013
6:33 AM
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The Dayton Speedway was located at 1550 Soldiers Home-West Carrollton Rd. The track and stands are gone. Use this address on a map site such as Google or Bing, satellite view, to see it in it's current state.
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joey m
157 posts
Dec 19, 2013
9:28 AM
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Curt I was a friend of Alans and I havent seen him in a long time. I owned a pizza house right around the corner from where he lived when he was younger. His family were regular customers.Wonder where he is now. Would like to communicate with him. And Curt I don't know you personally but would like to thank you for the job you've done with this site, it has been a real blessing for me.
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historybuff
46 posts
Dec 20, 2013
7:40 PM
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I was a teenager in the late 40’s early fifties and went with my dad to several auto races at the Dayton Speedway. They had nationally-known 500 lap late model stock car races. I was at one of the races where a driver went over the rail and down a steep hill and was killed, I believe. Curt probably knows of that race. I remember the really hot car in those races was the hudson Hornet. Lots of memories. My dad an one of his buddies always went to the Indianapolis 500 every year. They had constructed one of those tall scaffolds on the back of pick-up truck.
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historybuff
47 posts
Dec 20, 2013
7:40 PM
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I was a teenager in the late 40’s early fifties and went with my dad to several auto races at the Dayton Speedway. They had nationally-known 500 lap late model stock car races. I was at one of the races where a driver went over the rail and down a steep hill and was killed, I believe. Curt probably knows of that race. I remember the really hot car in those races was the hudson Hornet. Lots of memories. My dad an one of his buddies always went to the Indianapolis 500 every year. They had constructed one of those tall scaffolds on the back of pick-up truck.
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historybuff
48 posts
Dec 20, 2013
7:41 PM
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sorry about the double post
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Curt Dalton
744 posts
Dec 24, 2013
8:44 PM
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joey m - Thanks for the kind words. I haven't seen Alan in a couple of years. If I find out where he has moved to I will let you know.
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