The rapidly approaching summer weather has signaled a change in State College moviegoing: the reopening of the Starlite Drive-In, 1100 Benner Pike.

Now in its 56th season, the longest-running continually operated theater in Centre County will open tonight, and remain open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer. Ticket booths will open at 7:30 p.m. for screenings that begin at dusk.

Owner Frank Royer attributed the drive-in's success to the establishment's prices and family atmosphere.

"It's a great family experience where people can come in and sit in the back of their cars and watch two movies for a reasonable price," Royer said. "We usually get so busy on nights where the weather is good that we often end up turning people away. And the fact that kids can come in for free makes a big difference on every family's budget. Plus, everybody likes our big, 90-foot screen."

While the recently re-faced screen might be a big hit among many moviegoers in the area, the relatively cheap price of tickets -- $5 for two movies for adults with kids 11 and under getting in free -- also plays an important part in the theater's popularity.

"Basically I'm always [at the drive-in] at least once during the weekend, and if the movie isn't as good as my friends and I thought it would be, we'll just sit there and talk and it's still an enjoyable experience," said Nick Downs, a Penn State employee helping Royer set up a Web site for the theater. "It's a very American experience that had its heyday in the '50s, but it's still fun and enjoyable today."

Downs is helping establish the Web site (www.centrestarlite.com) free of charge in hopes of bringing more people out to the theater on a weekly basis.

A business that had been struggling throughout the '70s and '80s, drive-in theaters are now witnessing a resurrection of sorts, said Jennifer Sherer, co-creator of http://drive-ins.com.

"During the peak era of drive-ins in the 1950s there were thousands of theaters, now we have hundreds," Sherer said. "In the '90s people started realizing that they were going to lose these theaters, so they would travel far to get to them. So we've seen a bit of rediscovery and resurgence lately."

Sherer gives most of the credit for the revival of drive-ins to the idea that the theaters are now realizing their resourceful niche in the family-oriented activity zone. "The trend that we have seen in recent years is that drive-ins are definitely focusing on catering more and more to families; especially those with lots of kids," Sherer said. "By doing so, theaters offer a greater amount of both affordability and flexibility to these families."

Royer said he understands what it would mean for the success of his theater by gaining more of a family-based audience, and he believes that he's already working hard at doing so. He's especially looking forward to this season. "There are a lot of films coming out this summer that are great drive-in shows," Royer said. "Even though in the summer [because of more daylight hours] we have to wait until around 9 p.m. to begin the shows, nobody seems to mind waiting, they usually just hang out and have a good time until the film starts."