Hull’s Angels make sure the show goes on in Lexington.
Guardian angels are real. At least they are for Hull’s Drive-In Theatre in Lexington.
One of just six remaining drive-in theaters in the state, Hull’s first opened as the Lee Drive-In Theatre in 1950. In 1957, Sebert W. Hull and his wife bought the property and operated it—to the delight of the area’s movie-going crowd—until his death in 1998. A year later, the cost of modernizing to keep pace with the digital age of film proved too much and it looked like the Lexington institution would have to close.
But the drive-in’s faithful rallied to keep it open, establishing Hull’s Angels and making it the first community-owned, nonprofit drive-in theater in the U.S. “Everybody that supports the theater came out with checkbooks when it looked like it would be shuttered,” says executive director Lauren Summers. The group raised enough to install a new screen and digital projection equipment, and also renovate the concession stand and build new restrooms.
And this season, a gift from an anonymous donor has funded a complete upgrade of the theater’s sound system. Modern technology enhances the experience, says Summers, but, she adds, “We’ve also been refurbishing as many of our cool old speaker heads as possible to keep our 1950s charm.” HullsDriveInn.com
