Me: This can't be abandoned since the 90s that's just a few years ago. That's way too overgrown. Me: notices that's almost 30 years Me: DAMN I'm getting old ...
Lauren Carpenter· "My grandparents Imie and Robert Allen "Bert" Carpenter owned and operated the Sunset Drive-In and Roller Rink for 25 years. Imie is very pleased to hear that an article had been written about a place that so many remain fond of! She often recounts memories from this time of her life. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, my grandparents traveled to yearly meetings in London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Chicago while representing America's small towns for the National Theatre Owner's Association. At these galas, they mingled/were friendly with many stars and starlets. The most notable among them: Steve McQueen, John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Sophia Loren, Bette Davis, Burt Lancaster, Julie Andrews, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Gregory Peck, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone and Judy Garland. It's amazing to see the pictures that they took during these cocktail parties. A little bit of history as dictated to me by my grandmother: Charlie Carpenter, my grandfather's father, bought the land for his three sons (Charles, Jack and Robert A) from the Crossett Lumber Company. He gave the 25 acres of land to his sons. They also had the Hamburg, AR airport and "Carpenters" clothing stores. A tragic flying accident killed Charles and the boys who worked at the Sunset movie theater one Sunday afternoon. After that, only Robert A Carpenter, my grandfather, owned the Sunset Drive-In and Roller Rink. The Sunset was the only local business which employed teenage kids, who ended up making lifelong memories and also enjoyed all of the free concessions and movies that they wanted... a teenager's perfect job if you ask me! Times change and they shut down both businesses but my father and my grandmother, still own the property out of nostalgia. Memories are everywhere."
Wow just amazing...we live in canberra australia...same deal ..we. Had rollers roller skating disco wooley st dickson 70"s next door to DMB automotive. Which was a ampol petrol station then..we had starlight drive in ..antill st watson.n ffederal hwy..nowsadly units..we had sundown drive in..symonstom /narrabundah..now portables cheap accomodation/caravan park...we had canberra international dragway1/8 mile was. Fantastic .nicely closed by the airport and canb pubes ngreenies...we had tralee speedway...back ofhume...now jerrabomberra...was sooo good sat nights ...watching greats of aussies/yankeees....dale buggins up on the highwire...our city canberra is wealth..hypsters culture ...yuppies ..greedy developers...and partly moresoo...canberrans are not supportive..andcertainly not loyal..public servants run this town...and like my late father said .."They will KILL the place...". Well dad your right boss....there was no body like my father...i tell uthat...theres is no good times anymore for canberra..all over priced bullshit...remember the old CANBERRA FOOD NWINE FROLIC..LOL....N BIRDMAN RALLY..cardboard formations...jumping off ajetty...FWF... wow...that was fantastic times but canberra yobbos killed the event...commonwealth park..was bands...local /international..halln oates played about 82 lol....The message is quite simple....udrink in the sun ufucking eat...udrink water . Hats ...sunscreen...the brawls would breakout..sat late arvo...and go to about 1@m...thefights were full on..like blind beggars belconnen sat 4am...lol....its sadd to seee a soo good era...well gone...i cant enjoy life barely i struggle..drive in could be 82K HDMI...25 m pool screen..fukn....pair your bluetooth speaker..have s fantastic..selby springs eeeee eeee loll night....but no toofukn lazy to leave your comfort...fuck netflix...its for lazy fucks...walk tothe shops...get 7 videos 7 days $7......yeah fuckn right ...we neeed afuckung DRIVE In back....and fuckn support.it...pay what the fee is not fukn 5 in a P76 boot or 64 impala lol.....and pick your fuckn rubbish up....when you go home ....so the bloody owners dont have too...till sunday arvo...i know the history...what happened to canberry fair...clancys pub..where BP watson is...wwas afucking awesome joint...this iswhere canb..pollies ..started to fuck ourtownwith their greeatt choices...canberra tramsshove it up your ass...🤓🎄🇦🇺😋😂🤣😉hope everyone enjoyed...that..how itshould fukn be...not this PC Plastic bullshit attude...we have...u see a nicelady jogging uwhistle...ha ha✌️✌️✌️loooved the sunset roller rink story thankyou from my heart...xxx siasons greetings...bentspokes new 5% beer...grab a can...ill be right...tooheys. Draught 30pk..$49.95 thats $1.65..per can....70"s till im dead...noother way in life...cheers steve xxx
Steve Kool ... Yes, punctuation is important, and the foul language isn’t necessary. I do believe you’ve created one of the longest run-on sentences I’ve ever read. Your English is positively shameful Steve, and lazy. Of course I already understand you don’t care about punctuation, so all I can say is what I’ve said. I hope you don’t talk to people with such vulgarity Mr. Steve .. so Unkool. Your seeming lack of self respect, and foul mouth aren’t flattering .. not even a little. On the positive side of things at least you know how to communicate, albeit poorly.
I am the historian and archivist for the Northwest Roller Rink Preservation Project. I can’t thank you enough for this spotlight on the rink! What an amazing little pocket of history. Thank you for sharing what is still there.
This property is still owned by Imie and Robert Allen "Bert" Carpenter. They apparently still own it for the nostalgia but they operated it for 25 years. Amazing little piece.
Back when things were simple, and the magic of the anticipation of going to the local drive in the next weekend. Running free around the grounds in the night that was back lit by all the attractions as a kid. Parents didn't worry as much to leave you there and pick you up hours later if you were a younger kid, and if you were a teenager showing up with your friends. Dating was still magical etc. , Going to the concession stand when getting a coke was still special. (The Good Old Days)
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I think drive ins and roller rinks can definitely make a come back. Especially what we experienced in the past 2 years. Who would rather hang out in places like this again and less time on social media? I think it could definitely make a come back as well as old school arcades. The world needs it now.
Those mirrors still being intact speaks volumes of how people enjoyed that place. respect. roller skating, movies ... those were the days. no cell phones and if you wanted to play a video game, you had to go to the arcade .
I ENJOYED THIS ROLLER RINK AND MOVIE THEATER I WORKED THERE IN THE 70S FOR BOBBY AND IMIE CARPENTER OWNERS WE HAD FUN MEMORIES THERE I STILL DEAM ABOUT THEM I WISH THEY WOULD CLEAR THE WOODS AND SHOW IT
Yes I am curious when the drive in closed as the growth seems to make it look like it closed at least 30 to 40 years ago or so. At least from what I am seeing.
Seeing capital letters and getting wiggy about it is definitely a first-world problem some posting on your comment seem to have. I wonder what would happen if some of them were confronted by something slightly more dangerous, like the dreaded misuse of "you're" and "your". That one gives me nightmares. Anyway, cool connection you made just happening across this video. =)
When I see these videos, I can't help but play a scene in my mind like that of the movie Titanic where they show the ballroom in the sunken depths and it slowly fades into the once bustling ballroom with dancing and music. All I could see here were kids racing around on roller skates, laughing, crying, falling... And then fades back into the abandoned building and one wonders how so much joy can be forgotten. Sad and intriguing at the same time.
When I was in junior high in the Sixties, I am 67 now, the roller rinks were one of the main hangouts for junior high kids. And the drive-ins were hot spots. I used to roller skate in Malvern Arkansas and our Daddy took us to the drive-ins in Malvern and also when we lived in Hot Springs. We would get burgers, fries, and milkshakes at Burger king and go to the drive-in. We thought it was pure adventure!
Wow! I use to skate my behind off in this rink and watched many movies on that screen. You had to buy a few mosquitoe coils and light 'em up to enjoy the movies. No DJ..just a jukebox but it sure was fun ! What memories I made in this small town.
This roller rink & drive in has a lot of memories there for me. My dad worked in the projection room of the drive in. I spent many nights there helping him. That was the days they head to manually switch projectors because the movie didn't come on one big reel.
I spent many of nights at that rink! My mom would drop me and my brother off and we would spend hours skating and catching glimpses of whichever movie was showing that night. Mrs. Imie Carpenter was a second mother to us all. Great memories!
If I was rich, I would buy places like this and restore them to their former glory, just for the hell of it! Drive inns in America are an endangered species. We used to have multiples here in Utah. The only one surviving is called “Redwood Drive In”. They hang on, because they also host a large swap meet every Saturday and Sunday. But even that has radically changed over the years. Used to be able to go there and buy used goods. Now it is nearly all new stuff from Mexico. And mostly the same junk at all the vendors. Attendance for the swap meet is way down from the old days. I fear once it doesn’t sustain itself, then the drive in will die too... ☹️
You could restore that entire arena, and cover it with a Faraday Cage (chicken wire might do the trick) and then cell phones would cease to function inside! - j q t -
What a surprise to see this video! So many memories came 2 life while watching this! Birthday parties, school parties, & Saturday nite life...... I held a boy’s hand 4 the 1st time n this rink!!! The mirrors were 4 the lights!!! I am amazed! Thank u SO much 4 posting this. Thank u Ms Imie & RAC 4 the memories!!!!!
Haha wow, way to be a couple of fuckin rain clouds, you losers.... I'm stoked for you Kim, I can hardly imagine how different it must have been back in the day :)
Look around...you can still find them. A few years ago used to see 2 first run movies for $5 a person at the one in Ocala Florida. They broadcast on FM through your car radio these days.
Their is one outside Atlanta Ga. that hosts yard sales on the weekends. I would like to go see a movie instead of buying boiled peanuts while shopping.
I live in Western PA. There are still a few drive ins. There is one in Moon Twp, near Pittsburgh International Airport, it’s called “The Dependable Drive In” they play double features. Great value!
David Murphy - we have 3 still operating in Cambria County (Western PA) The Silver in Johnstown, the Family in Portage, and the Hi-Way in Carroltown. We don’t have shit in this area...but we have 3 drive in theaters!
Ken Deater I read somewhere, something to the effect, that Western PA was like the drive in capital, because we still have so many! Indiana (PA) still has one. I think Butler has one, as does New Stanton area? Good times!
My husband use to go to this place. He said when he was a kid. You got to watch 2 different movies on both sides of the movie screens. He also said the reason why it is shut down, is because it is way out in the woods.
I remember skating on a wood floor. It’s way different than concrete! Those mirrors helped the flashing lights bounce around. Nice shot of sun coming into the rink onto skate wheels - You’re a video poet, Chris! Thanks!
We have a working drive in nearby in Christiansburg, VA. Last year my girlfriend and I went to two movies there. I hadn't been there since the 70s. Now you can sit in your nice, new car with surround sound and tune in to a radio station to hear the audio. In all, it was a good experience.
I went there in the 80's without ever leaving New Jersey......It was a long strange trip....if I close my eyes and breathe deep through my nostrils, there's still a hint of the 80's lingering in the air......
This site is excellent study for all majors in archelogy, geology, sociology, and study of nature in colleges and high school. Best case study I think. Nature and "Broken window effect" are excellent study how things can quickly destroy manmade things and this is why ruins are buried under ground within few hundred years. If this place was left untouched, this too can be underground in 500 years.
I grew up at the roller rink as a kid, yes I was a rink rat. Still enjoy skating but sadly old age has taken over my abilities I once had. This would have been a great rink to skate to in it's glory days. Thanks for finding this old rink and drive in! Unlike these cool buildings you have found, my area of the Northwest has removed any remnants of yesteryear and put up retail or government buildings.
the 70s in Glasgow - scotland - we would go to the roller rink and have such a great time. I think I spent almost 3 years of my childhood going around Glasgow on roller skates. Such a sense of freedom and the games we played. Even in the middle of winter and we were poor kids - we didn't have the warmest of clothes. But we had lots of fun and travelled far and wide with our bus passes. Yep - on roller skates. I remember visiting someone in hospital on my roller skates.lol.
@Bill Williams Bwahaha! Funny you should say that. When my dad would hear this blaring from my turntable(lol), he'd tell me the only key I would ever have to worry about was the one to my chastity belt he had ordered!! haha!
If I could have liked this more than once, I would have. A memory of a long gone time. Video games and the Internet killed this place. It is a shame that the younger generation will not get to have those same memories. Great video man.👍
I mean I'm a 90s kid I grew up building snow forts, walking the woods on my farm, swimming, and riding skateboard around town. At night me and my buddy would play video games but during the day we where outside.
We had a Sunset Drive In in NE Arkansas too. Wal Mart art came to town and bought the property and tired it down. Owned by the Collins/Fulkerson family. They also owned the Collins Theatre which original building and stage is still used for local theatre plays. The screen and balcony still is there too. My grandfather was the piano player there in the 20s-30s during the silent movies.
the following post was written by the grandaughter of the owner @abandonedar(dotcom) I will post it here, it's very interesting "My grandparents Imie and Robert Allen "Bert" Carpenter owned and operated the Sunset Drive-In and Roller Rink for 25 years. Imie is very pleased to hear that an article had been written about a place that so many remain fond of! She often recounts memories from this time of her life. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, my grandparents traveled to yearly meetings in London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Chicago while representing America's small towns for the National Theatre Owner's Association. At these galas, they mingled/were friendly with many stars and starlets. The most notable among them: Steve McQueen, John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Sophia Loren, Bette Davis, Burt Lancaster, Julie Andrews, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Gregory Peck, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone and Judy Garland. It's amazing to see the pictures that they took during these cocktail parties. A little bit of history as dictated to me by my grandmother: Charlie Carpenter, my grandfather's father, bought the land for his three sons (Charles, Jack and Robert A) from the Crossett Lumber Company. He gave the 25 acres of land to his sons. They also had the Hamburg, AR airport and "Carpenters" clothing stores. A tragic flying accident killed Charles and the boys who worked at the Sunset movie theater one Sunday afternoon. After that, only Robert A Carpenter, my grandfather, owned the Sunset Drive-In and Roller Rink. The Sunset was the only local business which employed teenage kids, who ended up making lifelong memories and also enjoyed all of the free concessions and movies that they wanted... a teenager's perfect job if you ask me! Times change and they shut down both businesses but my father and my grandmother, still own the property out of nostalgia. Memories are everywhere" written by Lauren carpenter
It's sad so many places like this lay abandoned. People don't get out much anymore. People sit at home and just play on the internet. We have the old Dixie Theater in Mansfield, Arkansas that was closed in the late 80s . Thankfully in recent years our town restored it and turned it from a movie theater to live music theater for bluegrass and gospel music concerts.
My hometown’s drive in theatre still exists (the indoor theatre in town became a large DVD rental shop). I would go with my parents back in the 70s and 80s. I went back in the late 90s for nostalgia’s sake. In the pitch black before the movie started I walked slowly to the concession stand with arms outstretched, trying not to run smack into the speaker poles. I got 3/4s of the way before I realized they’d all been pulled and the sound was on FM now.
When i was a teen in the 80s, I used to go roller skating with my brother every Thursday night. We actually had fun without the need of a cell phone, go figure right. Drive ins were a lot of fun to, so was cruising Main Street. All movie theaters will disappear in time due to technology.
My wife lived in Camden for years, and never heard of this place, but I can understand that. Back then, Camden had their own drive-in and roller rink, which is now a feed store. I went to drive-in's a lot in the 70's in Illinois, and still remember them well. Thanks for this. Finding relics like this is always fun, and the woods only make them more lonely and mysterious.
I grew up in a roller skating rink in the 60's and 70's here in Sarasota Fl called the Co-Ed Skateland. Skated 7 days a week, speed, dance and free style. Couldnt of had a better time growing up.!!!
Big Bad Don exactly. I live in Arkansas. You would not believe how many people own property like this. They refuse to let anyone salvage anything. They’d rather let these old buildings disintegrate. I had a friend who watched an abandoned church fall into disrepair. She repeatedly asked the owner to let her buy the wood but he refused to sell it to her. Finally one night she got her son, a pickup truck, and a trailer. They went to the church and pulled out all of the salvageable wood which she later used as flooring in her house. She said that roughly a month after she got the wood the church burned to the ground.
Here in S.C., we also had a skating rink called sunset and it too had wooden floors. We actually had two skating rinks, sunset and redwing. Great tour and thank you for it.
Wow! This is fantastic. I live in the SW Desert and cannot begin to imagine this much green growth even in 30 years. COVID might be a good time to bring the Drive In back!
Great video. Time flies. I was 12 and reached down to tie my skates...I untied them, looked up and I'm 47. It felt that fast. Thanks for the flashback. I've never personally been there, but I know the magical feelings that come from a place like that. Keep it up with the good videos.
I spent 12 years of my childhood on skating rink floors and loved every minute of it but I've only been on one hardwood floor. The mirror's up high would reflect any light from a disco ball sending the reflection back in a different direction.
Drive-ins are making a bit of a come back but hopefully even more so in the near future, then the Renaissance of roller rinks where you skate to a mix of the best classic and modern playlists in a dark colorful disco setting. Makes me hope social media dies down some day so that these fun wholesome experiences come back.
I love places like this, as l wander through them, especially ghost towns, I wonder about all the stuff that might have happened there. And I like seeing nature reclaim itself, no matter what we put in it
I’m from New Jersey. We had plenty of drive-ins back in the day. So interesting to read all of your stories of those who went to and, have great memories of this place. Equally eerie to see it as it is today.
Its so sad to see all these old places run down. When I was a kid in the early eighties the local drive in was a big deal and I remember my parents telling me when they were dating they went to that same drive in the 1960s. By the late nineties it was tore down and bought by our local water company and they put an office there. Today you can still see some of the traces of the old drive in. It's so 😔 sad. Everytime I drive by there I think of the memories of that place. It's just about 6 miles from my home and where I grew up.
I vaguely remember this place.At least the drive-in..We lived in Hermitage and our parents would take us there.It was in the early 80's..Very cool and sad at the same time.Thanks for posting this.
There is an old drive in here where I live (western Pennsylvania) and it is thriving.. matter of fact they recently add 2 additional screens and need traffic controllers on weekends
You do a great job finding the history of theses places. It would have been great to meet up with you sometime. Before my husband passed away we traveled all over the world trying to find all theses great places to take pictures we did nature and wildlife. I guess everyone we ask what was abandoned and very interesting no body knew. But we still at least got some great landscapes. You bring back great memories because nobody will let me go alone anymore even if I carry because of all the crazy things people are doing know. So thank you for such great history and pictures. Videos. It makes me happy to see someone else will go wherever it takes to capture what’s left of history. Wish we could save it. Stay safe and God Bless.
I love old buildings one day when I was in Sonoma driving around trying to get used to the area I came across an old train that sat in someone's yard and all the trees were growing around it just like that roller rink makes me sad that people will do nothing to restore these beautiful landmarks that are part of our history that train I found was awesome
We have a few here in Ft Wayne that melted into the ground, one is a mile from my home.Back in the 60s I went to drive ins with my friends their parents took us with them. Those were the days.
A roller rink in Arkansas was very much a part of my growing up years, just not this roller rink. I grew up in NW Arkansas and lots of hours were spent at the roller rink. Some at the drive in, too! Great memories!!
That is an incredible find, on abandoned Drive-In with the screen still standing, many of these screens have been torn down after the facility had closed
I’ve lived in this area all my life. I’ve never been to this place. I always knew it was here but I never went. Thanks for this video. I enjoyed the look at this old place. Maybe it needs to come back!
There was a drive-in about a mile away, my parents took me and my sisters all the time in the sixties, in the seventies it started showing X rated movies then they built one of the first multiplex with 6 screens then they added 6 more, it closed in the nineties because it started sinking into the marshland that's what they said anyway, it's been abandoned for about 20 years now, some say all the equipment is still inside, it's all boarded up.
I got engaged at a drive - in...it was announced over the loud speaker... I said 'yes'. Also spend every Tuesday during the summers roller skating back in the early '70's...great times and what a blast.
I just pulled up SUNSET ROLLER RINK, HAMBURG ARKANSAS on the web....very interesting info about when the Rink and Drive In were built and who owned it and why the place came to be abandoned, more or less. I read comments from folks that shared their memories and good times there. Pretty Neat! Good Job, Mobile Instinct on the video!
