Bengies Drive-In is a
drive-in theater
A drive-in theater/theatre or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, c ...
in
Middle River, Maryland
Middle River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 33,203 at the 2020 census. A Middle River Train Station first appeared on the 1877 G.M. Hopkins & Co Baltimor ...
, a suburb of
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, with the largest
movie screen
A projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. Projection screens may be permanently installed on a wall, as in a movie theater, mounte ...
remaining in the United States.
History
Bengies was opened on June 6, 1956
by Frog Mortar Corporation.
It was designed by Jack K. Vogel as one of three drive-ins in the Vogel Theatre chain,
[ and is still owned by the Vogel family,]double feature
The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...
s,2020 COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, it was one of many drive-ins in the US used for socially distanced
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
movie viewing and other events, and kept open after the summer ended; the theater rented in-car heaters to patrons.[
]
Screen
Its screen is the largest remaining in the United States,[ measuring high and wide.][
]
References
Further reading
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External links
*
Buildings and structures in Baltimore County, Maryland
1956 establishments in Maryland
Drive-in theaters in the United States
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