A 'Superior' movie experience

Rather, Superior, is the name of the township in which this 9-year-old drive-in rises on 10 acres of former crop ground. The site is two miles west of the town of Superior, Iowa, not far from Spirit Lake.

"We began looking for land in 2005," says owner/operator Gaylord Kemp, who hails from about 20 miles away in tiny Alpha, Minnesota. "We looked for land around Jackson and Fairmont, Minnesota, and at several sites along Highway 9 near Spirit Lake. We also tried areas around Estherville."

Kemp and his wife, Pam, finally settled on 10 acres in Superior Township, just east of Highway 71 north of Spirit Lake. When conducting their search, land was often selling for $2,500 to $3,000 per acre.

"Actually, at that time it wasn't a bad price," he says. "Just after the land got re-zoned to be used as a drive-in theater, land prices skyrocketed. A farm around Terril, Iowa, the day we closed on this property went for $10,000 per acre."

Kemp then went to work on developing the former farm tract. He found a 55-foot by 90-foot outdoor movie screen in Estherville. The steel screen was erected in 1979. It now sits in 83 yards of concrete. The viewing area spans 40 feet by 90 feet.

"We built the drive-in during the spring of 2008 and we struggled," Kemp recalls. "It was a very wet spring. We had it built by Labor Day of that year and opened for a few weeks in 2008."

The first shows: "What Happens in Vegas" and "Space Chimp."

Superior 71 Drive-In can handle 366 vehicles parking atop some 900 loads of crushed rock that make up the parking lot, or the movie viewing area. Movie-goers tune their FM radio to 99.9 on the dial to hear the movie. Kemp estimates there are 300 or so drive-in theaters in the United States  these days and most, if not all, use sound on an FM transmitter.

A two-story building was erected to handle the projection booth (upper level) and the restrooms/concession stand (lower level). The Kemps employ up to 15 people during peak summer season, June through August. Movies begin showing on Friday and Saturday nights in mid-April before transitioning to shows seven nights per week after Memorial Day.

While the formal parking area is limited to 366 vehicles, Kemp says he can host 500 to 600 cars, parking the excess on grassy areas if those areas are dry and conducive to traffic.

"Since our screen is big enough, you can see a movie 600 feet from the screen," he says.

Gaylord and Pam Kemp worked for more than 30 years at Ag-Co, a manufacturing enterprise in Jackson, Minnesota. Two years ago, Gaylord retired and began directing his energies full-time to the drive-in theater, an enterprise he'd thought about starting ever since he was a boy.

"I practically spent my last 54 years thinking of building a drive-in," he says. "Even as a little kid, my dad and grandparents or aunts and uncles would take us to drive-in theaters. I remember walking across the lot at the old Gay Theater in Worthington, Minnesota, with my hands outstretched way over my head. I'd watch cars come in and see people sitting around excited about being at a movie on a warm summer night."

As a boy, he says, he can remember seeing movies at drive-in theaters in Worthington and Fairmont, in Minnesota; and at Estherville, Spirit Lake, Milford and Spencer, in Iowa.

"I met my wife in the 1970s and we spent lots of time at drive-ins," he says. "But those theaters were hit hard by VCRs. We began losing our drive-in theaters around here."

After seeing all of them close near Jackson, Kemp vowed to resurrect the big outdoor screen.

For the first seven seasons or so, Gaylord Kemp kept working at Ag-Co while running the theater. He's now doing it full time, spending his summer mornings cleaning up the parking lot and his summer evenings jump-starting cars whose batteries die while the movie plays.

"Oh, I'll have to jump-start anywhere from five to 20 cars some night and that's no problem at all," he says. "There are some days where I'll jump-start three or four cars before the first movie begins. I can get people going in a minute."

Pam staffs the concession stand, as do other family members and employees.

Ticket prices, he adds, have remained constant with $8 tickets for those 13 and over, $4 tickets for ages 5-12 and free for those younger than than age 5. Each evening features two films, with the first starting at sundown. In the heat of the summer, he notes, the second movie might not end until 1 a.m.

Kemp attempts to show first-run movies.

"We've not raised concession or ticket prices all these years," he concludes. "And in the last two years, gas prices were down and our patrons began finding out about us through Iowa and Minnesota. We had our best year in 2016, and turned a profit."

Making a ton of money isn't foremost to this owner. Offering a "superior" movie-going experience tops his list.

"It's a perfect retirement business," Gaylord Kemp says. "The drive-in creates an atmosphere everyone enjoys. What kind of job can you work at where people come in and they're all happy because they can relax and watch a movie?"