Sky View Drive-In, Florence, SC

Dean Jeffrey
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Sky View Drive-In, Florence, SC
Sky View Drive-In, Florence, SC

1854 W Palmetto St.

It's been a vacant lot, and for sale, since early 2008, after the restaurant burned.

The article linked below from Dec. 2007 says the fire had been the previous September and that demolition started in December. The building is still there in the Nov. 2007 Google Street View. By Jan. 2008 it's gone.

scnow.com/news/local/sky-view-drive-in-soon-to-be-history...

Sky View Drive-In soon to be history
Kelly Gillespie/WBTW TV-13 Dec 20, 2007 Updated Jan 2, 2013

A Pee Dee landmark is one step closer to demolition.

Wednesday crews began tearing down the Sky View Drive-In in Florence.

The forty-eight year-old restaurant burned down back in September.

Now what's left from that fire will come down, and each movement is almost like taking a personal hit for Nick Mathes.

"Of course it hurts. When I started in Florence every time I go by it I look. Even if it's a building or no building I still look," said Mathes, a property owner.

Mathes still catches himself looking back in time forty-eight years ago, to the heyday of the Sky View Drive-in.

"Used to come out here just about every other day, bring the kids for drinks and French fries they still remember," said Mathes.

It was once a restaurant was filled with hot rod cars and even played a roll in a Hollywood movie.

Now it's a goodbye Mathes never envisioned.

"I never thought the place would burn down, never," said Mathes.

But, the Sky View drive-in has still left a permanent mark.

"Lot of memories, good memories and as long as I live there will still be a memory," said Mathes.

Demolition is expected to wrap up in the next few weeks.

The owners will keep the property and renting out the space.

They hope someone will choose to build another drive-in.

The official cause of the fire has not been determined.

Property owners told News13 they believe the fire started in a ceiling panel.

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