Drive-in Theater Looks to Put Down Roots

From KWQC.com, a story of a drive-in theater struggling to come to life:

Many in the QCA have been waiting years for another Drive-In movie theater. In 2008, plans were made for a drive in theater to open up in Davenport but that never happened. Now, those owners are working to bring the big screen to Blue Grass, IA.

Owners want to put in the West end of Blue Grass, just past the fire department on Mayne Street. Randy Lorenz and his wife have 9 acres of land that they're hoping to bring the big screen too. Currently, the land is empty but by spring the owners of this property say it's not going to look like that at all.  That's if anything goes as planned.

Back in 2008, he worked to develop "Reel-To-Reel" -- but he had problems with the county.  By the time they got the project approved, the land to get to the property had been sold. So that sent them searching for a new place to put it.When looking for new property, the owners had to consider the Maquoketa drive-in. Randy Lorenz says he wanted something closer to davenport and the QuadC so people aren't on the roads after a late show.

"In Maquoketa you have to drive 45 minutes there, drive 45 minutes home. At midnight you're the one awake. We want to open a drive-in because it's a family oriented affair, you can bring the kids, the neighbors, everybody can relax and have fun. When you go to a regular in-door theater you have to be quiet, you can't have your phone on," said Lorenz.

He tells us what's next in the process bringing the theater to blue grass.

"We have to go through planning and zoning and get everything approved through them with engineering. In the Spring, as soon as the ground is ready, we'll get the dirt moved and the building built. Hopefully by early summer/ mid summer we'll be ready to open the gates to our first guests," said Randy Lorenz.