Capitol Drive-In

The Capitol Drive-In in Des Moines, Iowa, opened on September 19, 1952, with The Big Trees and Gallant Bess, on Highway 69 at the north edge of the city. It parked 728 cars. Lloyd Hirstine, a former Kansas drive-in manager, was president and manager of the company that built it, and advertised it as the newest, largest and most modern in town. It had a concession stand with a seating patio and a playground.

Its mascot was Cappy the Clown. A giant glowing neon Cappy could be seen at night from Interstate 80, and two local accounts say drivers took it for a casino. In daylight he was painted on the tower, in a speech balloon calling the theater your symbol of good entertainment. A Filmack trailer has him inviting kids to the patio on Friday and Saturday for gifts. John Margolies photographed the red tower in 1980.

Hirstine ran the grounds like a small farm. In October 1962 Boxoffice published a feature on the Capitol's 18 acres, noting that even the playground was landscaped, with trees and a garden. His assistant manager, Mel Cormaney, lived on the lot in a mobile home. In 1963 the same magazine reported that Hirstine's hard-packed, dust-free ramps had drawn a letter from a drive-in manager in Queensland, Australia, who was fighting dust of his own.

The state took about four-tenths of an acre and some access rights for the widening of U.S. 69. In April 1963 a Polk County jury awarded the theater $24,360, well short of the $207,456 it had asked. In 1953, less than a year after opening, a thunderstorm blew down the 75-foot screen tower, with a loss put at $20,000, and it was rebuilt that summer. Hirstine still owned the place in the late 1960s, with his son as assistant manager. It closed on July 4, 1983, on a triple bill led by Hells Angels Forever. It was torn down in 1985, the neon clown was salvaged and sent to California, and a retention pond now takes up part of the site.