Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Downtown's Rooftop Drive-In Gets Booted From Its Location
One of our favorite drive-ins Electric Dusk Drive-In (formerly known as the Devil's Night Drive-In) is looking for a new home.
Currently, the monthly drive-in event is held on top of a two-story garage at the intersection of 4th Street and Broadway downtown, and the movie is projected on an inflatable screen. At the current location, there's room for 80 cars (and if you don't get your tickets early enough, you can sit on the astroturf).
But that lot—owned by one of the most active groups downtown Pacific Investment Group—has been sold to a developer. It's being demolished to make way for a residential high-rise, according to the Los Angeles Times. Electric Dusk Drive-In was told last weekend that is has to vacate by April 14, so now it's scrambling to find a place to show "Goodfellas" on April 27.
Eric Heusinger, who runs Electric Dusk along with Darryl Semira, told the Times that while the current location had its charms, he's cautiously optimistic, "While this is kind of a scary time, feeling like we are rushed into having to make a change, it's also kind of exciting to see what the other opportunities and prospects might be. Whether we go into a park or there's some giant warehouse that we can operate out of, we're open to whatever that may be."
Support for LAist comes from
If you have suggestions about where Electric Dusk should head, the group would love to hear them. Yesterday it posted on its Facebook page, "We looked at a LOT of parking garages today. It wasn't very glamorous, but we did find a couple of possibilities!"
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist