COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (KDVR) — The owners of 88 Drive-In Theatre have decided to step away from the business and “go in a different direction,” according to Commerce City.

Specifically, the owners requested to rezone the lot to allow a multi-tenant warehouse to replace the theater.

“The decision to close the theater was not made by the city, and Commerce City has not asked or encouraged the drive-in to close its operation,” the city said in a social media post.

There was a discussion on the proposed zoning change and whether it aligned with city code at a Commerce City Council meeting Monday.

“The discussion is not to decide whether or not the drive-in theater should stay, as that is the decisions [sic] of the owners/operators,” the city said before the meeting.

During the meeting, a representative of the rezoning applicant — First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. — said the property was put on the market around two years ago by the current owner for personal and business reasons.

The property has not formally sold yet and has been under contract since around April 2021.

The representative also said the development of the lot would likely not start until late next year at the earliest.

The theater has been operating since 1972, and owned by the same family since 1976, according to the business website. It is the last remaining original drive-in theater in the Denver metro.

According to documents presented to the city council in mid-May, if the zoning change is approved, everything currently on the site would be demolished and replaced with an approximately 80,500-square-foot warehouse building.

The theater is still operating, with showings still scheduled for Thursdays through Sundays.