After months of anticipation, development plans are underway for what is set to be the largest drive-in theater “complex” in the world, in nearby Eustis.
It’s a green light from the city of Eustis for what will become the Lighthouse 5 drive-in, a five-screen open-air multiplex, with a lighthouse looming dead center and screens dedicated to new releases, classics and even indie fare.
Don’t start popping the popcorn just yet, though. This ambitious project, while will eventually sprawl on 72 acres off County Road 44, will take a couple of years to build. Even after opening, there are future plans for expansion including restaurants and camping facilities. In mid-March the Eustis City Commission granted Spencer Folmar (of Veritas Theatres), the man behind this project, permission to purchase the city-owned land and proceed with his planned construction.
And as we are now in mid-June with no end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, the Lighthouse 5 business model seems like a sound one, with drive-ins an increasingly viable option for cinephiles squeamish about going into an indoors movie theater.
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This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2020.