By the end of May the massive outdoor cinema screen is not going to be "standing up on top of Bourke Hill any more" in what Dubbo Westview Drive-In operator Jason Yelverton thinks will be "a big moment for a lot of people".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The landmark has been a feature of the local landscape for more than 50 years.
Its sale was announced last week ahead of the drive-in business's final opening on April 2 after the land it operates on was sold in January.
Mr Yelverton said a local contractor would be used to pull down the giant screen, which had been sold to an undisclosed buyer and would be leaving Dubbo.
"We've indicated we will be off the land by June, so the time frame we've put on it is for it to come down between the second week in April through to the end of May," he said.
"So by April-May, we won't see it standing up on top of Bourke Hill any more."
The drive-in had been closed for more than three decades before it was revived starting in 2017, with Mr Yelverton playing a pivotal role in "bringing back the good old days".
When asked if the giant screen coming down would be a big moment for him, Mr Yelverton said: "I think it will be a big moment for a lot of people."
"I remember being a little kid, we lived out at Gollan and Dunedoo and we would come into town, and we would drive over Mugga Hill and it was the first thing you saw when you came over the hill, was the screen," he said.
"And I remember going to it when I was very little, watching E.T. with our family, and as a little kid coming over Mugga Hill, that was when you were in Dubbo, when you could see that screen.
"Never did I ever imagine in a million years at any point in my life that I would be running it, or responsible for it, so that's been a proud, a great thing to do.
"...I've been able to do this with my family and my friends and so many great people from our community who've wanted to be involved. And to me, that's probably one of the things I'll remember the most, is that our family's going to be able to tell this cool story about how, you know, those years we ran a drive-in cinema.
"It will be a sad day, but the owners who've owned the land who were kind enough to let us do it, I'm also excited and happy for them.
"They've had it [the site] for sale for a long time, and they get to realise their investment, so it's bittersweet."
Understood to be one of only three drive-ins operating in NSW, the Westview has five more movies lined up.
On Friday night vehicles streamed through the gate for the sell-out Disney's Encanto Drive-In Experience fundraiser, hosted by Laura Shooter for her charity bike ride.