Bill Text: IL HR0852 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Congratulates the Skyview Drive-In in Belleville on the occasion of its 75th anniversary.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-06 - Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Jay Hoffman [HR0852 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HR0852-Introduced.html
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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the Skyview Drive-In in | ||||||
| 4 | Belleville on the occasion of its 75th anniversary; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, On July 8, 1949, the Skyview Drive-In opened as | ||||||
| 6 | part of the Bloomer family chain of theaters (BAC Theatres) | ||||||
| 7 | with the film On Our Merry Way; the drive-in accommodated 900 | ||||||
| 8 | cars and had 200 seats for walk-in patrons; admission was 60 | ||||||
| 9 | cents; in addition to movies, the drive-in offered a | ||||||
| 10 | playground with pony rides, miniature train rides, and a small | ||||||
| 11 | Ferris wheel; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, In 1953, with the advent of Cinemascope, wings | ||||||
| 13 | were added to the side of the screen to accommodate the wider | ||||||
| 14 | picture; in the spring of 1955, the 60-foot screen and the | ||||||
| 15 | playground were damaged by a tornado; as a replacement, a | ||||||
| 16 | 115-foot screen was installed, which was supposedly the | ||||||
| 17 | largest in the Midwest at that time; in 1981, another storm | ||||||
| 18 | damaged the 115-foot screen, and it was replaced by a somewhat | ||||||
| 19 | smaller one; a second screen was built not long afterward, | ||||||
| 20 | making the drive-in a twin; for more than 60 years, employees | ||||||
| 21 | were trained to project movies on the big screen; in 1995, a | ||||||
| 22 | radio sound system was installed, and the drive-in became | ||||||
| 23 | digital in 2013; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, The Skyview Drive-In's sign is one of the most | ||||||
| 2 | iconic movie marquees in the country; designed by Kirn Signs, | ||||||
| 3 | the rocket ship marquee appeared in 1950; it was damaged by a | ||||||
| 4 | storm in 1955; in the early 1980s, the drive-in turned off the | ||||||
| 5 | function that made the sign flash, due to a sign ordinance in | ||||||
| 6 | Belleville that outlawed flashing signs; since then, the | ||||||
| 7 | drive-in has kept the lights off; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The Skyview Drive-In is one of the two drive-ins | ||||||
| 9 | built by the Bloomer family and is the only remaining drive-in | ||||||
| 10 | in operation in the St. Louis region; today, it is owned by | ||||||
| 11 | Steve Bloomer; the first screen can host 440 vehicles, and the | ||||||
| 12 | second screen can host 190 vehicles; the drive-in's season | ||||||
| 13 | runs from April through November; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, In May of 2024, the Skyview Drive-In was honored | ||||||
| 15 | as the number one drive-in theater in the U.S. by USA Today; | ||||||
| 16 | therefore, be it
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| 17 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 18 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 19 | we congratulate the Skyview Drive-In in Belleville on the | ||||||
| 20 | occasion of its 75th anniversary, and we wish them many more | ||||||
| 21 | successful years; and be it further
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