See updates at the bottom for 2000, 2001, and 2007
The Bel-Air Fly-In Drive-In was one of only a half dozen or so in the country. I seem to recall that it may have been the first. After digging, I found one photo, maybe the only one I have. This was taken in 1975, just a few years before it closed for good. Click here to see the Bel-Air's monthly movie guide for July, 1964 (120k).
The Bel-Air Fly-In Drive-In theater in St. Ansgar, Iowa, was opened in the 50s by
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Andy
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Anderson. He had run the Roxy theater in town since the late 30's or early 40's. He ran both theaters for a short time but then closed
down the Roxy and ran the Bel-Air full time. I can still remember, in the mid 50s when I was 7 or 8, the 10 cent Saturday movies
for the kids and the free movies at Christmas time at the Roxy. Before Andy bought the Roxy, I don't know who owned it, but I remember
my mother saying she used to play the piano at the theater for the silent movies.
The Bel-Air, when it was opened in the 1950's, was one of the first Fly-in Drive-in theaters in the nation, if not the first. I think it held maybe 100-150 cars and in it's heyday, was full every Friday and Saturday night. Admission, in the mid 1960s, was 65 cents, 75 cents on the weekends. Sometimes we'd throw a few kids in the trunk of the car and sneak them in. The Bel-Air was about 4 miles out of town and attracted farmers and people from other nearby towns in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. (Carpenter, Northwood, Grafton, Manly, Lyle, Osage, Austin and who knows where else!)
The screen is off to the left (not shown) as well as the parking. The building under the sign, to the left, is the projection/concession building. The ticket booth is under the sign to the right. To the right of the sign, is the hangar and the grass runway. Planes would park on the grass, grab a speaker, and watch the show. Andy kept his own plane, a 1949 Stinson, in the hangar.
The runway was north-south, with the screen and car parking to the west. To the east of the runway was Iowa Highway 105, to the south and north were cornfields and to the west, behind the screen, were woods. The entrance road came in from the east and turned north. Paralleling the road was an aerial telephone cable. In the 1960s one time, a plane took off after the show and the rear landing wheel snagged the cable. The plane went down, but no one was hurt. Shortly after that, they buried the cable.
I was the projectionist there for a few years in the mid 60's while I was in high school. Projectors were noisy (and hot) carbon arc units that required a lot of attention or the arc would become weak or go out - and then the horns would start. Andy would come running in yelling " What the hell is going on now? " as we sometimes did repairs on one projector while a reel was running on the other. The 7 or 8 reels of film would come in by Greyhound bus several times each week and we'd haul them out to the Drive-in and get them ready for the show. Lots more interesting stories from that place and damn good memories! I wouldn't trade my experiences there as a teenager for anything.
I haven't been home in many years so I lost touch of what happened to the remains of the Bel-Air. But in the meantime, a few folks have provided fascinating updates:
Summer 2000 - from Bob Jacot, a retired farmer who had land in that area. He had seen this web page and provided more information.
| "Half the screen blew down in the late 70s and in 1992 a house
was built back in the trees where the screen was. The other half of the screen was torn down when the house was built. The
screen bordered on a heavily wooded area. Behind the screen the land went down 30-40 feet and there was a beautiful little
creek there. When I was a teen I always thought that down by the creek would have been the most perfect place for a house if
I had stayed in St. Ansgar."
Bob also reports that the projection booth and lunch stand are still there but not in the best of condition. The old projectors are still there. Virl Deal (the local barber) bought the property and moved a house on the corner. He uses the old onion shed for his hangar. His son in law, Steve, built the house. The rest of the land is now the Bel-Air Acres Orchard and Nursery with 200 apple trees west of the airstrip. Bob also recalls working in the field east of the Bel-Air and being able to see the movies from there. |
February 2001
- Lorraine and Steve, the current owners, were kind enough to send me some updates.
| "Yes, the info you have is correct. The snack bar, as well as the silver hangar, are still standing, but need some repair work. We use the snack bar building for storing our bare-root stock in the spring, and the projection room to hang and butcher the deer we get in the fall. You are right. It is a beautiful site for a house. We are overlooking the creek and were able to avoid cutting down too many trees when we built the house. In the fall and winter we can see the creek in two directions. We have deer that come right up to the back yard. The old projector is still here, some of the large reels, and even some of the film " leaders " . We are thinking of lending it to the heritage society museum. It is located in St. Ansgar where Neeley's Dairy used to be. I sure wish we had some of the old posters and handbills. I guess they all got thrown away in the clean-up process. If I think of anything else of interest, I'll try to keep you posted. Stop in and visit if you are ever in the area." |
July 2007:
- I received this e-mail from Adam.
| My name is Adam Strouf. I am a friend of Steve Beland's son and the Belands business partner. I found your site during a search of the internet. I am writing to give you an update on the old drive in. We have opened a winery at the site of the projection/snack bar. I started renovation of the snack bar into the winery in the fall of 05 and finished the major work in spring 06. We moved in the winery equipment in late June and early July and started our first commercial production run in September and October. We sold our first bottle this spring, and are making more wine as we speak. I have remodeled the boys bathroom into a storage room for wine and the girl's bathroom into a bathroom. I am remodeling the projection room in to our tasting room. The open breeze way between the snack bar and projection room has been closed off with a door at each end and the outside door to the boy's bathroom has been closed off as well. I have cut a new door in the projection room to allow a free flow to the winery. I will include some pictures so you can get an idea of what it looks like. Also I have a web site for the winery the address is: www.belairewinery.com . The projectors are still on the property. Actually we would like to sell them so if you know anyone interested in that sort of thing you could send them my way. Anyway thank you for your time. | 
Projection side of the building. My favorite parking spot was, on the photo, just to the left of the building. Many, many good nights were spent there........ - Dave 
Vineyards where the parking used to be. |
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Thanks Bob, Lorraine, Steve and Adam!
| Created 1/1/2000
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