First movie chosen for drive-in theater series at Columbia Speedway

Columbians will be able to watch the first movie in the Summer Drive-In Series at the Historic Columbia Speedway on May 20.

“The Sandlot” will be the first movie, says Laura Ros, project manager for What’s Next Midlands. The movie is about a new kid in town who befriends a young baseball prodigy and his team. Their many adventures involve rival teams, lifeguards, and a vicious dog. The stars include Denis Leary and James Earl Jones.

Filmed in 1993, it’s described as a “coming of age movie” set in the summer of 1962.

Movies will be shown once a month from May to August. Dates and movies will be announced in coming weeks, and a website, www.summerdriveinseries.com, will be established soon as well.

Columbia Opportunity Resource is working to find volunteers to work at the pop-up Drive-in movie series.

The pop-up drive-in is the latest project selected by What’s Next Midlands, a group that generates ideas for improving the Columbia area and funds one of those projects four times a year.

The pop-up drive-in will be held on the nine-acre infield at Historic Columbia Speedway, which will accommodate about 300 cars. There will be a 55-foot screen, and folks will be able to sit in cars and listen to movies through the radio or sit outside and hear via speakers.

The plan is to have food trucks and art exhibits, giving the event a festival feel.

“We want to make it more of an event than just a movie,” said John Banks, Historic Columbia Speedway manager and owner of the local FunFlicks franchise that will provide equipment for the movie series.

The speedway is located at 2001 Charleston Highway in Cayce.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 9:27 AM with the headline "First movie chosen for drive-in theater series at Columbia Speedway."