Laval, Québec

Laval Abandoned Drive-In

This haunted corpse of a drive-in is now a graffiti-covered ruin.

Once upon a time, drive-in movie theaters were all the rage. Amorous young couples and families would park next to one another and take in a movie on a truly big screen in a sort of communal, camping-like experience. Of course now that we have DVD players in cars, that seems stupid. But the remains of those halcyon days, such as the abandoned drive-in theater in Laval, Québec, still offer a ruinous wonder.

The four screens that still stand on the site are all that is left of the drive-in theater, which originally opened in the 1970s as just a two-screen attraction. The outdoor theater maintained a remarkably long life, showing flicks up until its closing in 2004. After the final picture show, the theater was left to rot. Weeds cracked the asphalt and grew up through the stone in approximations of the car rows that once existed there.

Years after its closing, the Laval drive-in is still standing, although it no longer attracts families and couples and its screens are now blank save for graffiti. However, the site is not completely forgotten. The 2013 movie, Warm Bodies shot some scenes at the abandoned theater, taking advantage of its naturally apocalyptic setting. Investors have also taken a shine to the vacant land, looking to develop it into commercial space, unfortunately dooming the drive-in to follow in the tracks of so many of its brethren, straight to the trash heap.

Update March 2019: As of 2018, it would seem to have been definitely scrapped off.

Update August 2019: The entrance has been closed to cars by a cinder block barricade.