LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
Supervisors in Unity Twp., near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, have approved the demolition of the Hi-Way Drive-In Theater and its replacement by a CVS pharmacy. The outdoor theater is a beloved icon along the Lincoln Highway/U.S. 30.
Residents and drive-in fans tried protesting in recent months that the 51-year-old theater was popular with families, had a minimal or even pleasing impact on the landscape, and that CVS has a pharmacy less than a mile away at Mountain Laurel Plaza along Route 30. Nonetheless, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the screens and equipment will be razed, and construction will begin later this summer as soon as permits are issued.
“This isn’t anything against CVS … this is about taking a piece of our history for no apparent reason,” said Cindy Yutzy of Latrobe, adding that she believes that CVS could have found other land to purchase for a new pharmacy. “This is a piece of our history and, slowly, every piece of our history is going bye-bye because of big business.”
But landowner Richard Ridilla “wrote a letter to township officials indicating that, regardless of the outcome of the township’s negotiations with CVS, the drive-in and flea market would no longer be in operation” due to it not making a profit in recent year.
Check out the website while you can at www.hiwaydriveinlatrobe.com/.
Lincoln Highway News 