After closing down on Labor Day weekend, this beloved North Texas drive-in theater may not be dead after all.
The Coyote Drive-In theater in Fort Worth, beloved for its backdrop of the city’s skyline, showed its final screening on Sept. 7, after announcing it would close after 14 years of operation. The theater’s shuttering was to make way for a new canal and park system, among other redevelopment plans.
The theater, one of the state’s last operating drive-ins, was a community fixture, drawing many touching tributes and calls to reopen at a different location. Now, it looks like that may happen.
On Sept. 11, 4 days after its final showing, the official drive-in Facebook page made a post updating patrons, indicating that a Coyote comeback may be in the works.
“It’s only been a few days, but we miss all of you so much already,” the Facebook post reads. “We are cleaning up, a lot more work left to be done to make this coyote howl again. With Love Coyote”
The replies are filled with suggestions of where the drive-in should move, with most hoping it will stay in Fort Worth and try to capture some of the magic that made it so beloved. The drive-in’s website, which is still operating, was also updated, telling fans, “Our screens are now dark. But the Coyote will Howl Again!” But a former employee gave an unofficial update on the relocation plans.
On Oct. 18, grounds supervisor Paul Weber posted a photo of himself with the Coyote Drive-In sign, announcing that the theater will officially relocate. Weber said all the projectors and signage are now in storage as the relocation process continues.
“Good news, everyone, the Coyote Drive-In will be relocating after shutting down recently,” Weber wrote. “Moved all the movie projectors and signs to storage until they open up a new location!”
Weber also said in the post and comments that Fort Worth or somewhere nearby is the likely destination for the relocation. Fans’ main concerns are the location’s openness and distance from highways and lights, keeping it in Fort Worth, and pointedly not bringing the theater to Dallas.
If the Coyote Drive-In returns, it will bring the number of active drive-in theaters in Texas back up to 15. Drive-in theaters used to be extremely common in the Lone Star State, with more than 400 theaters operating at the state’s peak.
Despite the decline in popularity and the number of theaters, venues like the Coyote established themselves as community staples offering a unique, nostalgic experience.
There is no official announcement or date of a relaunch. Chron has reached out to the theater for confirmation of its relocation plans.
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This article originally published at Recently closed Texas drive-in theater may not be dead after all.