After more than 20 years on the market, ownership of the Starlite Drive-In has changed hands.
Since 1950, youths and families alike formed memories and celebrated the summer days parked in the grass at the Starlite lot.

Frank Royer, manager of the Starlite, 1100 Benner Pike, has been in the drive-in business since 1966 when his father and the father of previous owner Jeffrey Favuzza bought the business as shareholders.

"We used to have six [drive-in theaters]," Royer said. "I was six when my dad built the first one in 1950. They were located from Lewistown to Clearfield."

Last week, the lot sold for $2.475 million to Sevan LP, whose manager, Alex Sahakian, declined to comment.

Despite the sale, the Starlite has been leased by the new owner back to Favuzza, and Royer said he plans to continue running the theater for three or four seasons, health-permitting.

Royer's experience with the drive-in spans multiple decades during which he's held several positions.

"I've worked everything from repair to snack bar manager," he said. "We used to show seven days a week from mid-February to mid-December. If it snowed real hard, it was a problem, but I can remember cars parked with five inches of snow on the ground."

Movies would run from Wednesday to Tuesday, and on the last day a film played, admission was 10 cents.

Many supporters of the Starlite Drive-In are individuals who grew up going to the drive-ins, including State College Mayor Bill Welch.

"I remember going 50 years ago as a teenager," Welch said. "It used to be a teenage dating crowd, the passion pit. Now it's more of a family crowd."

Welch's wife, Nadine Kofman, said watching a movie was a pre-bedtime routine in her childhood.

"I remember from the '50s when I was a kid on a summer night, my parents would put me and my brother in our pajamas in the back seat of the car and go to the Starlite," she said. "After the movie, we would be ready for bed."

Royer has noticed the trend and said his fondest memories of the theater are "the amount of friends who came as teenagers who now come as families."

Another tradition remembered fondly by visitors was the theater's "Dusk to Dawn" holiday movie showing, which will be revived Labor Day weekend when it shows five movies with an admission of $10 for adults and free for children 11 and under.

State College Borough Council member Don Hahn recalled the all-nighters warmly.

"I have fond memories of the place," he said. "I especially remember all-night movie events, 'Dusk to Dawn.' They showed on special days, holidays, and I remember seeing a lot of movies there."

The theater has endured a number of changes in its long history. The speakers and the neon stars have been damaged, but if restoration were possible, "that would be swell," Kofman said.
Favuzza reflected on the numerous changes in lighting and equipment over the years.

"I've been there since 1966 back when speakers were on a post and the lighting was a carbon art lamp," he said.

While the difficult carbon art lamps and dangerous flammable film have not survived the times, the Starlite has endured, Favuzza said.

"The 1980s were the bad years," he said. "Video cassette really hurt us when they first came out, but things have been up from 1990 on."

The notion that drive-in movie theaters are dying out doesn't sit well with Favuzza, and Royer agreed, indicating that the theater does well when film companies make good movies.

"With all the new indoor theaters ... we're still making money," Favuzza said. "That's why we're there."