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KANOPOLIS -- Josh Webb is quick to say "no comment" when asked if he took dates to Kanopolis Drive-In.

While growing up in the eastern Ellsworth County town, he was a frequent visitor to the iconic outdoor movie theater, but that was years before he met his wife, Amanda. She grew up in Wichita.

Starting May 6, the Webbs, with 2-year-old daughter Brooklyn, will moonlight -- literally -- at the historic drive-in, which hasn't shown a movie since 2006.

The couple bought Kanopolis Drive-In last October. After some power washing, coats of paint, a new roof for the ticket hut, fencing and some general repairs, a special source of nighttime entertainment is set for reincarnation in the town of roughly 500 people.

The drive-in was a mainstay in Kanopolis since 1952, but it closed in 2006.

"I always wanted to see it re-open," said Josh, 30. His day job is superintendent of the Ellsworth Municipal Golf Course.

"The years are starting to add up, and we didn't want to see it fall down any more than it was," he said.

Many have shared special memories of the drive-in at the northwest corner of town, said Amanda Webb, 31, who works as office manager for Dr. Mark Herzog, in Ellsworth.

"We didn't want the drive-in to just sit there. It was deteriorating," Amanda said. "Josh was really passionate about it, so we decided to go for it."

History might disagree with the purchase. The website DriveInMovie.com reported in June 2010 there were only nine outdoor movie theaters operating in Kansas. At one time there were 125 drive-in theaters in the state. If you include Kanopolis, there may only be four still operating today, Josh Webb said.

Support for their drive-in runs deep. The Kanopolis Drive-In page on the Facebook social networking site has been "friended" by more than 950 people.

At Ellsworth High School, Alissa Webb, 16, Josh's second cousin, has been helping to build some buzz for the May 6 re-opening.

"Everybody's pretty stoked about it," she said. "I've heard a lot of people say they're probably gonna go the first night it opens."

They'll find Alissa, a sophomore, selling concessions and operating a 1952 Manley Aristocrat popcorn machine.

"I remember going with my parents to 'The Incredible Hulk,' " Alissa said.

The RCA Dyn Arc reel-to-reel projectors, also the amplifiers and two generators, are in mint condition, Josh Webb said.

Among their goals is upgrading to digital or laser projection. "We'll have to save our pennies and our dimes, and finance some of it, too," Josh Webb said.

The speaker system on the lot, which has enough room for 160 cars, is still in good working order, he said, but the speakers are more for show. Drive-in moviegoers can tune in to an FM radio channel and listen to the movie audio from their car stereos.

Alissa and a couple of her friends repainted the speaker posts one weekend this spring.

Josh Webb attacked the grounds, which were laden with clumps of grass and weeds, with a spring-tooth harrow that he pulled behind a pickup truck. Most recently steel bedsprings have served as the choice implement.

Preparation help has come from friends and family, specifically Josh's father, Dale Webb of Kanopolis, and dozens of cousins from both sides of the family.

"Amanda's family has just been fantastic. They did a lot of painting and stuff," Josh said.

He handled the most dangerous chore -- scraping, power washing and repainting the steel 30- by 60-foot screen, reinforced with materials from old oil derricks. The screen rises 55 feet above ground.

"It's gonna be awesome when it opens up. It'll bring people together," Amanda Webb said. "We need their patronage for it to work."

The Kanopolis business was first mobile, according to a bit of history on the drive-in's Facebook page. Tony Blazina started an "outdoor movie caravan" in the early 1950s, after he was laid off from the salt mine near Kanopolis. With a 14-foot canvas screen strapped to the top of a vehicle, and two 16-millimeter sound projectors, Blazina visited towns in the area and staged movie showings every night but Sunday. Merchants paid for the movies and people could view them for free.

Blazina was accompanied by his wife, Olga, and their daughter, Irene.

Irene Pacey remembered visits to Brookville, Kanopolis, Bunker Hill, Dorrance and Wilson.

"I remember Daddy working on it. He designed it," Pacey said. "On Saturdays, we were at the Wilson Opera House and Saturday evenings we were at Sylvan Grove. It was all outside except at Wilson."

The mobile movies included cartoons and news reels, she said.

The Blazinas erected a permanent drive-in in Kanopolis and debuted it by showing "The Red Stallion" in May 1952. Irene's sister, Liz, was born in July of 1952.

"I grew up at the drive-in. My dad taught me everything," Irene Pacey said.

Tony Blazina died in 1994, and sisters Irene and Liz assumed co-ownership of the drive-in. It was closed in 2006 when Liz Ray was diagnosed with cancer. Their mother died in July 2009 and Liz died in September of that year.

Irene, a retired registered nurse, and her husband, Larry Pacey, entertained several offers to purchase the drive-in, including one in 2009 from Chinese businessmen who sought to disassemble the theater and take it overseas.

"They were very nice guys. I let them come and tour, but I told them they couldn't touch nothin'," Irene recalled.

The Paceys wanted it to stay put. Both 71, they planned to re-open the drive-in this year, until they were approached by the Webbs.

"I feel Josh and Amanda will do fine with it, just by listening to them," Irene Pacey said. "You can tell they really want to make a go of it."

Kanopolis Drive-In will be open from May through October. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for people ages 5 to 12, and free for children ages 4 and younger. The Webbs are planning special promotions, such as "carload nights" on some Thursdays and Sundays, and double features on Fridays and Saturdays.

The movies "Rango" and "Thor" will be shown on opening night. Watch the Facebook page for other details.

"We want to explore whether to rent the theater out," Josh Webb said. One possibility is the fourth annual Rods, Ribs and Rock Festival June 3 and 4 in Ellsworth, five miles west of Kanopolis.

To help celebrate the car show, the Webbs are looking into a late-night June 3 showing of "American Graffiti."

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by email at tunruh@salina.com.

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