Local drive-in theater opens once again for the summer season

PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) - More movies are playing on the big screen at a local drive-in theater in Pueblo.

For 75 years, the Mesa Drive-In Theater has been a fixture in Pueblo and the new owners say they plan to keep the tradition going for years to come.

One of the Mesa Drive-In’s new owners, Chris Lally, said the drive-in opened on August 17th, 1951.

“It was opened by a chain in the early 50s,” Lally told 11 News. “And then it eventually came under the ownership of a small family in the mid-90s, I believe. And then, yeah, here we are now.”

Families setting up to get ready to watch the upcoming movie.

“Came here since I was a kid. My first experience here was just with my family, my mom,” William Blatterlerstrand, who was one of the attendants, said. “It’s always a whole event. I mean, some of those are really good memories of coming here.”

“And then, you know, hopefully in 20 years, their kids will be bringing their kids,” Lally said. “And it’s just, you know, it’s like a built-in nostalgia that they just, something they know to do to come out here and spend a beautiful night under the stars with, you know, with the community.”

“I mean, I’m glad they’ve just been able to be up and running for that long, too. You know, keeping it going,” Blatterlerstrand said.

“There’s nothing more fun than when you’re out here, you know, on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday night, and there’s people out here with their kids.” Lally said. “They’re smiling. They’re having a lot of fun. The kids are playing ball, throwing a football. It’s just the people make this great with just watching them enjoy being here. That makes it all worthwhile.”

Mesa Drive-In is one of the seven remaining drive-in theaters in Colorado.

“It’s really the experience that brings people back even 75 years later,” Lally said.