Adelaide's last drive-in theatre will close next year with its operators pointing to a range of issues, including the global COVID-19 pandemic, for its demise.
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After operating at Gepps Cross, in the city's inner-north for more than 65 years, the Wallis Mainline Drive-In will screen its last movie in February.
"No one is sadder than us to see it close. It is not a decision we have made lightly," the Wallis family said in a statement on Monday.
"But with the changing nature of the cinema industry, the introduction of daylight saving, film piracy and now the lengthy COVID-19 pandemic, we as a family all agree it is the best decision."
The family said it intended to make the last summer at the drive-in a memorable one, with its final program of films to be confirmed soon.
A market which operates at the drive-in venue each Sunday will continue over the summer and after the movies have stopped screening.
At one stage Adelaide had 15 drive-in theatres dotted across the suburbs.
The first, the Blue Line, opened in 1954 while the Mainline showed its first movie, Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, in October 1955.
Australian Associated Press
