Full Text of HR0852 103rd General Assembly
HR0852 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | HR0852 | | LRB103 41101 MST 74318 r |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION | 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate the Skyview Drive-In in | 4 | | Belleville on the occasion of its 75th anniversary; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, On July 8, 1949, the Skyview Drive-In opened as | 6 | | part of the Bloomer family chain of theaters (BAC Theatres) | 7 | | with the film On Our Merry Way; the drive-in accommodated 900 | 8 | | cars and had 200 seats for walk-in patrons; admission was 60 | 9 | | cents; in addition to movies, the drive-in offered a | 10 | | playground with pony rides, miniature train rides, and a small | 11 | | Ferris wheel; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In 1953, with the advent of Cinemascope, wings | 13 | | were added to the side of the screen to accommodate the wider | 14 | | picture; in the spring of 1955, the 60-foot screen and the | 15 | | playground were damaged by a tornado; as a replacement, a | 16 | | 115-foot screen was installed, which was supposedly the | 17 | | largest in the Midwest at that time; in 1981, another storm | 18 | | damaged the 115-foot screen, and it was replaced by a somewhat | 19 | | smaller one; a second screen was built not long afterward, | 20 | | making the drive-in a twin; for more than 60 years, employees | 21 | | were trained to project movies on the big screen; in 1995, a | 22 | | radio sound system was installed, and the drive-in became | 23 | | digital in 2013; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Skyview Drive-In's sign is one of the most | 2 | | iconic movie marquees in the country; designed by Kirn Signs, | 3 | | the rocket ship marquee appeared in 1950; it was damaged by a | 4 | | storm in 1955; in the early 1980s, the drive-in turned off the | 5 | | function that made the sign flash, due to a sign ordinance in | 6 | | Belleville that outlawed flashing signs; since then, the | 7 | | drive-in has kept the lights off; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, The Skyview Drive-In is one of the two drive-ins | 9 | | built by the Bloomer family and is the only remaining drive-in | 10 | | in operation in the St. Louis region; today, it is owned by | 11 | | Steve Bloomer; the first screen can host 440 vehicles, and the | 12 | | second screen can host 190 vehicles; the drive-in's season | 13 | | runs from April through November; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In May of 2024, the Skyview Drive-In was honored | 15 | | as the number one drive-in theater in the U.S. by USA Today; | 16 | | therefore, be it | 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 18 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 19 | | we congratulate the Skyview Drive-In in Belleville on the | 20 | | occasion of its 75th anniversary, and we wish them many more | 21 | | successful years; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to Steve Bloomer as an expression of our esteem and | 3 | | respect. |
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