Pueblo’s Mesa Drive-In movie theater should be open in time for Memorial Day weekend as its new owners prepare to light up the big screens again and keep the 71-year-old venue alive.

Marcella Snyder and her husband Jon Parkin recently purchased the theater from former owners Chuck and Marianne James of Cañon City who retired after more than a quarter-century of running the theater.

The new owners had hoped to have the theater open by now, but plumbing upgrades and other remodeling have pushed the opening back.

“We are shooting for Memorial Day weekend. We’d like to open with 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'Bob’s Burgers',” Snyder said, referring to this year's sequel to the 1986 movie in which Tom Cruise played a Navy aviator, and the animated comedy that follows the adventures of character Bob Belcher and his family.

Snyder fell in love with the drive-in movie business when she landed her first job at the age of 14 at the Tibbs Drive-In in Indianapolis, Ind. She gradually worked her way up from concession worker to general manager.

By the time the owners retired in 2019, she had two decades of experience working at Tibbs and was ready to buy the business. She said the 14-year-old version of herself never suspected she would someday own one theater, let alone two.

Now that there are just 200 drive-in theaters left in the country, “I own 1% of all the drive-ins,” Snyder said with a laugh.

She and Parkin plan to split their time between their home in Indiana and a condo they purchased in Pueblo West.

Her love of the business is etched in her skin where a sleeve of tattoos features the “Let’s all go to the Lobby” advertisement showing snacks like dancing popcorn and Dots candies, and an old-time drive-in speaker.

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Snyder learned about the Mesa being up for sale on a drive-in movie theater Facebook group.

“When you own a drive-in, the only way you are going to grow is to buy another drive-in. We looked at several drive-ins but I fell in love with this one from afar,” she said.

She and Parkin traveled to Pueblo to check it out.

Saving a chunk of Americana

They thought the Mesa is “super cute” and represents a “nice chunk of Americana,” Snyder said.

They felt they had to buy the theater and maintain its existence for the community. Drive-ins are closing across the country because “the property value is so high, owners who are thinking about retiring can’t or won’t take a lower value,” and that forces a change to more profitable uses like housing subdivisions, Snyder said.

“It’s more like a preservation mission,” she said. “Most of my life I’ve spent in the drive-in and this one — built in 1951 — is one of the oldest in the country.”

For the previous owners, it is a bittersweet end to their chapter of not only saving the drive-in from demolition but running it for 28 years.

"Our number one goal was to find somebody who would keep Pueblo's drive-in as a drive-in, so we're very happy that Jon and Marcella took over," Chuck James said. "They are drive-in people, they understand the business and we believe that they will continue to make improvements."

More on the Mesa: It's a wrap: Mesa Drive-In owners put Pueblo's last drive-in up for sale

About seven veteran drive-in staffers have agreed to stay on and work for the Mesa's new owners. A call to fill seven more jobs at the theater drew over 200 applicants, astonishing Snyder who had been warned that finding workers can be tough in Pueblo.

“We are one of the few who can hire teenagers and we offer a lot of perks like free movies and profit-sharing bonuses," she said. "Every college student gets a little bit of extra money every semester, too, so that pads their hourly rate and encourages them to do a good job."

Improvements before the movies

Snyder and Parkin had to bring the snack bar area at the Pueblo drive-in up to code, and are waiting for final permit approval for thousands in plumbing work. That has held up the Mesa Drive-In's reopening, but “it’s important to have it in good condition and we want to make the work experience the best possible for our staff,” Snyder said.

Other upgrades customers will notice this summer will include a modern point of sale system, which will allow for credit, debit, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay for admission and snacks.

Admission will be $11 for anyone 11 and older or $9 for adults ages 62 and up.

The snack bar will have a scaled-down menu to start, but fan favorite funnel fries will stay on the menu. To keep customer service moving quickly, those who want grill items like hamburgers or hot dogs will come inside the snack bar to order while those who just want popcorn, soda or candy can stop at the outdoor customer service window.

As the flow improves, Snyder said more items will be added to the snack bar menu. The drive-in should stay open through October if there is enough interest among customers.

Snyder, 36, and Parkin, 42, hope that running the drive-in theaters will someday be their only jobs. For now, though, they have day jobs.

Snyder works for Labcorp and Parkin works for PayPal.

“My entire adult life I have worked two to three jobs. I came from an economically depressed family and had to pay my way through college, so I did not graduate until I was 30,” she explained.

Snyder's parents couldn’t be prouder of her work ethic, she said.

“My dad, Phillip Snyder, is absolutely over the moon and loves the drive-in. My mom, Pam Fickle, is retired and works for me now in Indy,” she said.

Pueblo has really rolled out the welcome mat for the drive-in's new owners, Snyder said. Everywhere she goes in town, she is thanked profusely for saving the iconic entertainment venue.

The Mesa is located at 2625 Santa Fe Drive. For an updated movie schedule, visit mesadrive-in.com.

More: Pueblo's Mesa Drive-In enters 71st year in business

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo's new Mesa Drive-In owners plan reopening Memorial Day weekend