After 70 years of summer blockbusters, ranging from “Mary Poppins” to James Bond and “Barbie,” the Weirs Beach Drive-In is closing the curtain and will not reopen for outdoor film-watching this summer.
Owner Pat Baldi, who ran the drive-in movie theater with her husband for nearly 50 years, is officially retiring.
“My best memories are the customers. We have really dedicated customers. I feel really sorry about closing. We were a first-run movie theater since we opened. I’m trying to slow down,” said Baldi, who turns 86 in September. Her son, who used to help operate the drive-in, has relocated to Florida.
The 12.6-acre property in Weirs Beach has been for sale on and off for years and is listed for $4.9 million. Baldi said she has gotten no firm offers, but a hotel has expressed interest.
To Lakes Region residents and vacationers, the vintage-style drive-in has been an icon among local options for family-friendly nighttime entertainment from late May to early September. Its closing leaves New Hampshire with two drive-in movie theaters — the Milford Drive-In and the Northfield Drive-In in Hinsdale.
“As a lifelong resident of Laconia, just as a theater, it means a lot. For Motorcycle Week it’s been a good location” for vendors and parking, said Charlie St. Clair, a state representative from Laconia and executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association. “On any weekend this past summer, the cars were lined up on Route 3. They still do a good business.”
Baldi cited the difficulties of running a summertime-only enterprise.
‘Big movies’
“We played all the big movies that came out in summer. Usually we would sell out on a weekend. Business was good, but it didn’t last long.”
She said she will entertain offers to keep the location running as a theater.
“It’s up for sale. I’m going to see what happens,” she said.
In 2017, a developer wanted to buy the location for $2.5 million for condominiums and commercial space, but the deal fizzled when concerns surfaced over possible archaeological remains underground. The Weirs area is considered of interest to archaeologists because it was once a summer fishing ground for Indigenous Americans, who had a settlement in the Concord area.
Baldi said, “We’ve owned it for 50 years and never found artifacts on the property.” Artifacts were unearthed at the beach, but 25 digs on the drive-in’s property last year “found nothing,” she said.
The Weirs Drive-In opened in 1949, just before drive-in movies’ heyday in the 1950s and ’60s. Pat and her husband, Larry Baldi, bought it in 1974.
“I’m going to miss it,” she said. Drive-ins have a sentimental appeal, she said, because “the family can get together. It’s relaxed and really fun.”
