Aug 6, 2012

Gemini Drive-In in Redcliff, Alberta

Just off of the Trans-Canada Highway in Redcliff, Alberta sits the final remnant of the Gemini Drive-In. I have a lot of memories going here with friends in high school between '98-'02 and catching the double and triple features. The theatre closed in 2005 though, and it's honestly a bit surprising to me that the screen is still there.

gemini drive in redcliff alberta movie theatreThe original entrance, sign, concession building, and speaker posts have all been torn down now. A commercial fueling station for trucks sits where the original entrance used to be, and now a chain link fence surrounds the last remaining piece of the Gemini. The fact that the screen is still there is bitter sweet as it's a reminder of all the good times we had there, but it's just being left to rot away. I imagine it's expensive to tear down and no one really has any other use for the land at the moment.

My friend Tyler and I witnessed a similar scene after revisiting the Cinema 6 Drive-In near Regina, Saskatchewan. We had shot a short film there in 2007 outside of the closed area, but after returning to shoot some pictures last month, now only the sign remains. The rest of the site has been demolished. If the drive-in was already on its way out when I was a teenager, it seems that now it really is a thing of the past around these parts.


*Update - the screen was demolished in 2013.










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