New owner has big plans for Lowcountry’s only outdoor movie theater
By Mike McCombs
In 2002, Joe Barth saw the news that the Highway 21 Drive In was closing and was troubled.
“Damn, I love the drive in,” Barth said to himself. “I told my wife, ‘I think I’m going to buy the drive in.’”
In 2003, Joe and Connie Barth did just that, adding running a drive-in to their day jobs of installing flooring and sales, respectively.
Now, nearly two decades and hundreds of movies later, the Barths have stepped away and the Highway 21 Drive In has a new owner, Jake Higgins of Bluffton.
The Barths have known Higgins, a business owner and S.C. Highway Patrolman, for several years, meeting him through a friend the day they lost their home to a fire in 2016.
Though the topic had been discussed before, serious talks about Higgins acquiring the drive-in started about six months ago.
“We have an agreement with somebody that is going to make some improvements, …,” Joe Barth said by phone Saturday from Florida, where he and his wife now live. “I want him to do really well with it. He has other businesses he does really well with. It’s what’s good for Beaufort, it’s what’s good for the drive-in.”
Higgins, who has lived in Bluffton for about 10 years, previously worked for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and was a detective with the Bluffton Police Department. He also owns a successful security firm.
“In my time policing here, I noticed there was a need for more employers that treat their employees well with a family-style atmosphere for employees, staff and customers,” Higgins said Monday. “This is something honorable. The drive-in has been a part of everybody’s upbringing. To be able to keep that going and make it better, that’s something worth doing.”
If there were any worries that the drive-in might slip, Higgins has his eye on improving the 44-year-old establishment. In a hurry.
As early as next week, Higgins said customers will start to see improvements in the grounds, concessions, buildings and lighting, among other things. He said the picture quality would improve as all the screens will see a fresh coat of white paint, and there will be new, brighter bulbs for the projectors.
In the near future, Higgins hopes to add a third screen – “My hope for that field is more of a lawn-chair and blanket kind of field. Different options with another screen.”
And Higgins hopes a flea market can return to the property.
“He’s putting a lot of money into it, and I think it’s good,” Joe Barth said. “It seems like he’s got the funds and assets to make it as good as it can be. We were always limited on funds.”
The additional screen and flea market are pending the approval of Beaufort County and MCAS Beaufort.
Higgins said the white metal speaker poles throughout the grounds will be removed since they aren’t needed. And he hopes to add entertainment prior to the start time of movies.
The general manager the Barths hired to run the drive-in when they moved to Florida will stay, Higgins said. And the hope is to hire more young people, which may be a necessity, since Higgins hopes to have carhops to provide in-car concession service during movies.
“I want this to be more of an entertainment experience as opposed to just watching a movie,” he said.
Open since 1978, the Highway 21 Drive In is located at 55 Parker Drive, off Highway 21 just north of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. It features two screens, open year round, which each show double features Thursday through Sunday nights. The drive-in opens seven days a week in the busy spring and summer.
The only operating drive-in in the Lowcountry, the Highway 21 Drive In is the only movie theater open to the public in northern Beaufort County. It’s also part of a dying breed.
According to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association (UDITOA), there are just 318 drive-in theaters remaining in the United States, three in South Carolina, and just 571 screens. That’s down from 433 and 667, respectively, in 2002, the year before the Barths bought the drive-in.
Running a drive-in has been a unique business that has provided unique challenges for the Barths.
In 2012, because of the changing technology, the Barths had to upgrade all their film equipment to digital. It required some change and sacrifice, but they got it done.
“The first two or three years were a struggle,” Joe Barth said. “Then there were a bunch of really good years in the middle. But the last two or three years have been a struggle.
“But you only get one life to live,” he said. “You might as well enjoy it and get what you can out of it.”
Joe Barth thinks the future of the drive-in under Higgins will be a bright one. And he’s proud of what he and his wife did to keep it alive and get it to where it is.
“Honestly, we bought it as more of an investment for our future,” he said. “I love the drive-in. Me and my wife and family have put put a lot of getting it to where it is right now. We think the drive in is ready to spread it’s wings and fly.”
Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
