The Cottage View

After reading about the screen slated for removal, and the marquee and magnificent, larger-than-life, neon sign coming down the following day, I began to mull-over thoughts of a trip to the Cottage View Drive-In Theater in Cottage Grove, MN.

Mind you, I have no personal attachment to the that drive-in, but being a fan in general, and having visited it several times during the day on various trips through, each time noting the compounding neglect, I figured now was as good a time as any. So last Wednesday I left work at 11, rushed home, changing cars along the way, grabbed my camera, some Dr. Pepper for the road, and aimed the Blazer for Janesville to fill up the tank and top-off the tires. 

As is my style, I took the county blacktops and older state highways up to St. Paul. It was a beautiful day for a drive, and upon arrival, I noticed the twin entry/exit lanes were occupied by various semi trailers and utility vehicles. The major portion of the sign had just been lowered into place and attachment points were being welded to the top and bottom for support.

I strolled around and snapped a few pics and eventually decided to approach the one man not wearing a workers’ uniform. See, here’s the thing. This drive-in has been at risk for closing for the last several seasons. Dare I say half a decade. As a twin-cities suburb, urban sprawl had made its way right up to the backlot of the theater. The neighboring housing development literally towers above the main lot as the parking area was built on a flat lower than the surrounding embankment.

And let’s be honest, you can tell the writing was on the wall. The speakers had mostly disappeared, lights were falling apart, the ticket booth could have used some paint. Having known this for years in advance, I was going to see about trying to save a few artifacts, legally, that I could re-purpose for my drive-in.

So I approached the man standing there and learned that he and his wife were actually the long-time managers and were there to see the sign come down. No real emotion was expressed by him, but  the community had been rallying via facebook and there were other cars that had made a point to stop along the main road and snap a few photos.

The bad news is that I came home empty handed…but the reason is the good news. The sign, the screen, the projection equipment, and according to this fellow, the light fixtures I came to see about, are all being saved and transported to Hastings, MN.  A fellow with much land and apparently, deep pockets, has been rescuing endangered history, including churches and old-time jails according to his website. Visitors are invited each year for an old time power show as well. www.littleloghouseshow.com

Meanwhile, it occurs to me how we lost our own Hillcrest Drive-in back in ’00, and how social media didn’t really exist back then. Apparently, I provided a few photos to ‘drive-in jim’.  http://www.drivein-jim.net/cory.html  Wouldn’t it have been interesting if we had a Save The Hillcrest FB page with 18k hits. Not that it would have affected the outcome any. These decisions to sell-out are pretty much a done-deal before word ever gets out to the public.

Before leaving, I made a point of navigating to the upper neighborhoods, found a nice spot to park, and made my way down to the gravel to snap a few last photos.

And so, while I returned sans-fixtures, it was a gorgeous day for a drive, and rather than make excuses about this place being 4 hours north, at least I can say ‘I tried’.