Skyvue Drive-In Treatre - Kuils River

Aka: Sky-Vue, Skyvue Ster Drive-In

Designed by: Harris Engineering Works

Built: 1956

Demolished: 1998

Locality: Van Riebeeck Road, Kuils River

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Notes

The Skyvue Ster Drive-In (originally Skyvue) was Kuils River's iconic outdoor cinema, opening in 1956 as Cape Town's first drive-in theater and only the third in South Africa. Extensive research went into selecting the site on Van Riebeeck Road (on the former farm Monta Cristo, owned by Christiaan Nagel), with a key criterion being minimal misty weather to ensure clear projection onto the screen. The old farmhouse served as the projector room, supplemented by a roadhouse-style shop for refreshments. At launch, it accommodated 768 cars.

Renamed Skyvue Ster Drive-In later (likely after affiliation with Ster-Kinekor), it thrived for decades as a nostalgic venue before closing in 1998 amid shifting entertainment trends and the rise of indoor cinemas. The site was later developed into Palma Villas and St Duma housing complexes.

"The Northern Suburbs experienced the largest growth in cinema construction in Cape Town during the 1950s as Afrikaners poured into this part of Cape Town after World War II. In 1946, seven cinemas existed along the northern corridor of Voortrekker Road, from Maitland and Kensington through Elsies River up to Parow and Bellville (the Grand, Rio, Astra, Oral, Orient, Arcadia, and Victoria). These bioscopes were built mainly in the late 1930s as Goodwood, Parow and Bellville gained municipality status. By 1960, however, the number of seats had more than doubled with the addition of the Orange in Brooklyn, the New Oral and Lantern in Parow, the Liberty in Goodwoord, the Dixie in Bellville and drive-in cinemas in Ooodwood and Kuils River. The bioscopes of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were an integral part of residential communities. These cinemas were located where Capetonians lived, exposing them to the Americana of Hollywood films, their hoardings, bright neon signs, and elaborate advertising gimmicks.

Bert Fisher's Sky-Vue Drive-in opened on 6 December 1957 on the old Stikland Farm in Kuils River. It could accommodate 750 cars, and included a special screen to prevent distortion of the picture by rain, a self-service cafeteria and a playground for children which stretched over 16 acres." (Gainer)

* Bert Fisher: Manager of MGM Cape Town, later owned cinemas and drive-ins.

"Two distinctly distinctly different systems have been adopted in this country so far, both of them having proved successful. One type of treatment has been used at the Van Dyk Drive-in Cinema at Brakpan, and the other at two cinemas in the Cape one at Wynberg and the other at Kuils River. The Sky-Vue Drive-in Cinema at Kuils River has a 100ft by 45ft screen which is curved to a radius of 350ft. The face also comprises inter locking extruded aluminium alloy sections, which in this case, are fixed to a steel framework. The screen is coated with a special matt paint Harris Engineering Works were responsible for the design and erection of both the screen and the supporting structure. The fact that the reverse sides of both Cape screens are left unpainted - even though they are sited in an area with a highly corrosive marine climate - bears excellent testimony to the durability of the aluminium alloy used." (The Engineer, 1959)

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Sources

• Kuils River Historical Society on Facebook
• The Engineer, Feb 6, 1959.
• Aspects of American Culture in Cape Town, 1945-1960. 2000. Gainer, D.J. (thesis)