🟠 Indiana Jones and the Last Carpark

Also including: How a 20-year plan for growth in Chirnside Park is making way for denser housing

Author

Matthew Sims
April 10, 2026

⏱️ The 127th edition of our newsletter is a seven-minute read.

Hi there 👋 

Matthew Sims here, your reporter at the Eastern Melburnian.

🎬 I’ve been a lover of movies ever since I was a kid. Admittedly, I probably did see some gory flicks a bit early, including Alien and Bad Taste. However, I still have never been to a drive-in theatre. All my awareness of them come from Grease’s Danny Zuko singing “Sandy”.

🎞️ When I started to look into the history of them in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, I was surprised to see how many there were back in the 1960s.

I spoke with the former co-owner of Dandenong’s Lunar Drive-in about why they were special and what led to most of them shuttered for good. While he listed many reasons, including many changing half of their schedules to R-rated flicks, I think ultimately the changing face of movies and entertainment made them less appealing to a wider audience.

🍿 I hope there is still life in the two left standing in Melbourne and they can cater to all audiences for as long as possible. And maybe like vinyl, we’ll see a resurgence in popularity. Driving sure is a luxury at the moment.

Today we’re covering:

  • How a trip to the drive-in went from a popular pastime to a distant memory;

  • A deeper look at the history of Croydon’s former drive-in site;

  • How a new plan will serve as a blueprint for Chirnside Park’s growth; and

  • A fatal shooting in Box Hill on Thursday morning.

“You couldn't run Case of the Smiling Stiffs one week and the next week have 101 Dalmatians and expect the families to come.”

Former projectionist and Lunar Drive-in co-owner David Kilderry said one of the major downturns in overall traffic and profitability was the decision to bring in R-rated “sexploitation” films – like Flesh Gordon and Alvin Purple in the 1970s.

WHAT’S ON COMING UP 🎟️

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

The east was once a major hub for drive-ins, with their heyday lasting about 35 years. Home of the first drive-in cinema in Australia, screenings would feature elephants and traffic around the block.

But what was once a thriving industry has all but shuttered now.

One of the last hangers-on, Dandenong’s Lunar Drive-in, closed up shop in 2023.

So how did the eastern suburbs even become such a hot spot for cinemas – and what caused it all to shut down?

Australia’s first drive-in opened in Burwood in February 1954. It was the work of George Griffin Jr, Hoyts Theatre’s southern division manager, who spent six months in the United States and decided to try and make open-air theatres the next big thing in entertainment for Australia.

Newspapers articles from the time said the opening gala caused “one of Melbourne’s greatest traffic jams” along Burwood Road.

Originally offering 652 car parks, the capacity grew to 743 before its closure in June 1983.

In 1955, cinema chain Village – later known as Village Roadshow – opened its first drive-in theatre in Croydon. Soon other locations began popping up across the east, including Hoyts Oakleigh on 658 Old Dandenong Road in March of that year.

Drive-ins started to close across Melbourne’s east in the early-to-mid 80s, with the majority gone by the early 90s.

Former projectionist and Lunar Drive-in co-owner David Kilderry said rising land values meant many cinema chains decided to cut their losses, sell up for a high price and reinvest the money into launching another new multiplex.

Kilderry said he and his brother Matthew bought and reopened the old Dandenong drive-in in 2002, after it had been sitting empty and unused for 18 years with a capacity of about 950 cars.

“Ultimately, we became the busiest drive-in in Australia – we had four screens and had over 400,000 people come in each year,” said Kilderry.

With Covid and a changing appetite in films and a shift towards watching movies at home on streaming platforms, Kilderry said he and his brother accepted “the best days were definitely behind us,” closing the doors in 2023.

Kilderry said while he would never say never to there being a resurgence in the popularity of drive-ins, there were more challenges to overcome than ever before.

“You need someone with deep pockets and someone with lots of drive-in operating experience,” said Kilderry.

Only two drive-in cinemas remain open in Victoria, with about a dozen still operational nationwide.

The old Croydon Drive-in Cinema was once the hub of Melbourne’s eastern entertainment scene.

Now, the site on Maroondah Highway hosts a run-down abandoned restaurant, fast food stops and a pub – with plans for further development unclear.

Left largely vacant for close to three years, what does the future look like for one of the east’s former amusement landmarks?

The Kirby family opened the theatre on what was then known as Whitehorse Road in January 1955. It was the first cinema to fall under the Village Cinemas branding – now known as Village Roadshow, a multi-million dollar company running cinemas and theme parks across the country.

Village got its name from the nearby Croydon Village Shopping Centre.

At 75 feet high, the initial screen catered for 741 cars. In 1982, Village received a second screen from the closed Moorabbin drive-in cinemas.

The drive-in closed in August 1990, with both screens dismantled within 24 hours.

Village auctioned off a range of memorabilia from the cinema’s history, with the site then subdivided and snatched up by fast-food outlets and housing developers.

The Croydon site was not the first drive-in theatre in Australia, but it was quickly celebrated as a novel place for young families to visit.

A 1955 piece in the Argus reflected that the attraction for many was the “easy atmosphere of informality”: “You can wear slippers; make loud comments to your heart's content; go without a shave; do your knitting.”

The Croydon site also set itself apart from its competitors by offering a swimming pool, dance floor, mini-golf course, dining options and an amusement park.

The site became home to a range of family restaurants, including Pizza Hut and Sizzler.

The Sizzler building later became an Italian restaurant, but due to increasing rent and operational costs, the site closed in September 2023 and is now an abandoned shell covered in graffiti.

According to a real estate listing, the site was leased for development in November 2024, with plans to construct a 100-place childcare centre behind a proposed drive-thru restaurant. The Eastern Melburnian has contacted real estate agents to seek comment from the current owners.

Nestled between Wonga Park and outer eastern suburbs like Lilydale and Croydon, Chirnside Park prides itself on its “city meets country” character.

But a 2024 plan to transform the area into a hub of activity for the eastern suburbs could shift the township into a key regional connection.

As the community stands on the verge of change, what could the future look like?

Chirnside Park’s history begins with its namesake – sheep farmer Thomas Chirnside – and his family, who held most of the land from 1838 to 1950.

Subdivision was approved in 1956, with development centred around a stone homestead, country club and now-closed golf course.

Major developments followed, including Chirnside Park Shopping Centre and Oxley Christian College in 1979.

The median house price between April 2025 and March 2026 in Chirnside Park was $950,000 – up 13.1 percent year-on-year and not far behind the Melbourne median of $980,000.

Median rent over the past 12 months reached $665 a week, a 5.6 percent increase and $85 more than the median weekly rent in Melbourne as of the September 2025 quarter.

According to the 2021 Census, 11,779 people lived in Chirnside Park – a 19.3 percent increase since 2016, with growth mostly driven by families with young children aged up to nine and adults aged between 35 and 49.

Estimates place the current population at 13,008, with projections of 14,280 by 2046.

Yarra Ranges Council is currently developing a draft Chirnside Park Structure Plan with a 20-year vision to transform the suburb into a higher-density “Activity Centre”.

The State Government first named Chirnside Park as a “Major Activity Centre” in 2002.

Major Activity Centres are areas identified as preferred locations for increased housing growth and diversity, as well as retail, commercial activity, community services, employment and public transport hubs.

The new plan will outline ways to overcome a number of challenges threatening the area’s ability to grow, including housing affordability pressures, a lack of tree canopy and an over-reliance on cars due to the suburb having no train station.

Potential opportunities listed in initial documents include identifying appropriate locations for higher housing densities, encouraging the development of Kimberley Drive as a “main street”, introducing targets for increased canopy cover and advocating for more frequent and flexible bus services.

Councillors are set to vote on releasing the draft plan to the community for feedback later this month, before approving the final plan later in the year and implementing it in 2027.

The draft plan will draw on 487 community submissions, highlighting preferences for low-rise housing, retaining open space, and supporting local businesses.

Other concerns included parking, traffic and design quality issues often associated with high-density developments and the red tape and cost pressures the plan may place on small businesses.

Victoria Police has confirmed it will be treating the fatal shooting of a man in Box Hill in the early hours of Thursday morning as a “targeted” attack.

Emergency services responded to reports of an altercation at a high-rise apartment building on Whitehorse Road about 1.50am on Thursday, with residents evacuated for a number of hours.

Police have not formally identified the man who died at the scene.

Homicide Squad detectives have established a crime scene and are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.

👀 DID YOU SEE?

Talking about powerlines should be boring, what's made them such a hot topic?

In South West Victoria, sixth generation cattle farmer Michael Greenham has lived with powerline towers on his farm for 40 years. He says poor communication – not the infrastructure itself – is why new transmission projects face community opposition in rural Australia.

With powerlines set to be built across the country to support Australia’s new energy grid, figuring out the best way to work with these communities is paramount.

The National Account’s Archie Milligan spoke to Greenham and Alison Reeve from the Grattan Institute about the issue.

We hope you enjoyed this edition, but if you ever have an idea of something you’d like to know more about or a corner of your neighbourhood you think deserves more of the spotlight, let me know!

Cheers,

Matthew