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RIVERDALE, Weber County — Trees around the now-shuttered site of a Riverdale drive-in are coming down, and demolition of the screens, entry and other structures is imminent as moves to convert the site into a housing development spring forward.
"It's the end of an era, for sure," said Brandon Cooper, the Riverdale community development director. Just four drive-ins now remain in Utah, according to DriveInMovie.com, a website focused on promotion and preservation of the outdoor theaters.
News of the looming demise of Coleman's Motor-Vu Drive-In publicly emerged in 2022, when the owners announced movies would no longer be shown until further notice. Simultaneously, news emerged that the 20-acre site where the drive-in sits had been rezoned to allow for housing. The drive-in opened in 1947, and the grounds also housed a weekend swap meet in later years.
Now, according to Cooper, the redevelopment initiative — the site's to be called Coleman Vu Estates — seems to be moving ahead at full bore. Trees have been razed off 1050 West, near the entry to the site, and Cooper said demolition is set to commence next week. Asphalt will be removed and the screens used to show movies will be torn down, along with the covered drive-thru entry, where moviegoers once paid for their tickets.
Sandy-based Goldcrest Homes is the developer, and 68 homes are to be built on the site at 5369 S. 1050 West, according to development plans. Starting in June, the site's infrastructure will be developed — utilities, sidewalks, curbing and roads — followed by construction of some of the initial homes, possibly beginning later in the coming summer. "It's a phased approach," Cooper said.
When news of the Motor-Vu plans first emerged, many publicly clamored, recalling evenings spent watching movies at the locale. The nostalgia seems to have since died down.
"We've had a couple of things. Nothing like when the property was going through the entitlement process," Cooper said. Most people, he thinks, have come to grips with the fact that Motor-Vu will be disappearing.
The remaining Utah drive-ins, according to DriveInMovie.com, are the Basin Drive-In in Mount Pleasant, the Echo Drive-In in Roosevelt, the Erda Drive-in in Tooele and the Redwood Drive-In in West Valley City.
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly identified the headquarters of Goldcrest Homes as Tooele instead of Sandy.
