Page 5 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

The Wayne Drive-In
Remembering the

old Wayne Drive-In

The Wayne Drive-In opened in
1949 on Michigan Avenue near Hix
Road. It was built by the Shafer fam-
ily who owned and ran the Old
Wayne Theater and the State Theater,
and they claimed at the time it was
the largest drive-in in Michigan.
It began with one screen and a ca-
pacity of 850 cars. The 35-acre site
was eventually expanded to 1,500
cars, and in 1971 a second screen “Wayne Drive-In” sign was saved. It
was built. Workers at the nearby reappeared on an episode of Discov-
Ford plant were said to be able to ery Channels “Chasing Classic Cars”
watch movies from a second floor when the show’s host, Wayne Carini
break room, and even had a speaker bought it to restore it. The sign is
wired up. currently installed on his private
In the 1980s a third and fourth farm in Connecticut.
screen were added, and by all ac- Many Wayne residents have fond
counts the drive-in was still very pop- memories of going there to see
ular when it closed suddenly in movies, or of sneaking in. At the mu-
1990. Ford Motor company had seum, we have a few of the speakers
bought the land and wanted to ex- and heaters, some signage and a reel
pand the plant and railroad lines of film from the projection booth.
onto the property. This spring we hope to remodel our
All the screens and buildings theater area and have more artifacts
were torn down, but the neon out on display, so come visit us!
The Wayne Dispatch · December 2025 · 5