Wondering if anyone has detected an old drive-in and do you have any tips...

[Pete in MI]

I found me an old theater. Doing the research on who owns the property, etc. Even my buddy Ken who has lived up here for a long time never heard of this drive-in.

So wondering if anyone has hit a drive-in theater before and had any luck? Any tips? Thanks. Yeah Warthog...you're invited to join me when I get more info.

 

[Jim West Pa]

I tired one around here Pete and the ground was hard hard hard HARD, did i mention the ground was HARD !!! I'd take a small pick with ya.

 

[John(H)]

The pick is a good idea cause the ground should be mostly gravel or shell! Very tough digging, maybe use a TID machine and be selective on the targets that you dig!..................................Yea, only dig the .50 cent readings since this is an unknown site! LOL........................HH...........Joe

 

[Pete in MI]

I do recall when I was a kid that the playground for the kids was just under the theater screen...I'm thinking that would be the best place to look...if (1) it isn't paved over and (2) can be found. The other spot I think that was a good producer was the fenced area in front of the projection booth...if I remember they used to have seats in that area so one could sit outside and watch the movie and lots of kids just sat on the fence..hopefully losing money...hard part will be determining that area since nothing remains except a few speaker posts sticking up out of the ground. You're probably right about using a small pick...the gravel would be well packed from all the vehicles over the years...and probably not much left of the coins after being packed down with car tires and those gravel pebbles. Though, I wonder how many people dumped their ashtrays of cigarette butts and lost change on top of the ground??

Worth giving it a shot anyway even if nothing is found.

 

[Magyar]

I''m planning to hunt the only remaining Drive -in theater in Ct. this summer..
I agree that the ground will probably be difficult to dig; I plan on hunting near the "snack bar" and the "kiddie playground"

Never hunted a Drive -in before..should be verrrrrrrrrrrry interesting

Good luck on your hunt, Pete

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

They are very trashy! Hunt near the big screen where the play area for kids sometimes is. Concession area, and near where all the cars were.

 

[Pete in MI]

a little pre-planning and we'd get you some sleeping arrangements, etc. I bet you could pull a lot more stuff out of that ball field that I keep walking over. You can have all the crown caps ya find

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

Is it all thawed up there yet??? I will make it someday Pete! Maybe this spring after the big thaw, while the ground is still moist!

 

[Pete in MI]

being frozen than it is with all those old cars packin' it down. I know of another drive in that used to be up this way...the screen is still standing and a company that makes trusses for houses owns it now. The concession stand was coverted to their office. Will have to look into getting there to detect.

Speaking of trusses I heard a large truss company in Saginaw is laying people off...not a good sign of our times.

 

[Mike Chgo area]

them but didn't find much. Could be they had been worked over already. I know the ones we went to when I was a kid in the early 50's had a play ground in the area right in front of the screen. That should be the best area.

 

[camel]

i worked a drive in theater and found a lot of coins in the grassed area in front of the screen.also on the mound where the cars park i found what i thought was a silver ring.it was very tarnished and it appeared that someone had stepped on it and knocked the stone out.i didnt bother to look for the stone because my thinking was that a silver ring would not have a good stone.three months later i was cleaning this ring and discoverd that i had found my only platinum ring to date.we also found coins on the road from the ticket booth to the parking area,never figured out why they were there.

 

[Magyar]

Pete, now you got me sooooooooo interested in detecting at Ct.'s oldest Drive -in -theater!

Tomorrow Hank and I are going to take a ride up to Northern Ct. to check out this place.

It looks kinda small, and there doesn't seem to be any playground, but maybe the area has some possibilities?? What do you think ?

No more speakers.....the site says that one listens to the movie from their car radio..I didn't know that until I read about it.

 

[Pete in MI]

hard to say there might have been a playground up front at one time...those round-a-bout thingies are good places for kids to lose money, maybe around the concession stand and projection booth if there is a fence to sit on and around the posts...people used to put money in their ashtrays...and also put their cigarette butts there...they dump the butts and forgot they had chance there.

If there are any old coins there....I am sure you are the one who will find them...You've done well so far.