Midway Drive-In opens in 1953
This photograph of the Midway Drive-In was recently shared by Jack Travis in the Growing Up in Rehoboth, Dewey and Lewes in the ’60s and ’70s Facebook group. The post elicited a lot of response from the group’s members. The theater opened in June 1953 behind what is today’s Midway Shopping Center with the capacity for 400 cars. The first film screened was “All Ashore” starring Mickey Rooney. It was opened by William B. Derrickson, who also operated the Center Theatre and New Avenue Theatre at the time. Derrickson would eventually open the Midway Palace, seen in this photograph, with two screens before eventually expanding to Movies at Midway with 14 screens. In 1983, Sussex County Council approved a rezoning request to allow Richard H. Derrickson to demolish the drive-in and build an indoor recreational sports complex with a bowling alley, skating rink, a racquetball court and a fitness club. The rec center, eventually known as Midway Bowling Center and Skateworld II, operated until Presidents’ Day 2003, when a blizzard caused the roof to cave in. At the time, Richard Derrickson discussed plans of building an IMAX theater on the site. While that didn’t happen, the Derrickson opened the large-format Cube theater in 2017.
