LOCO Drive-In Closed

After nearly four years in business, the LOCO Drive-In in Loudon announced on their Facebook page they are permanently closing.

Thank you for your support over the past several years. We are sad to announce that The LoCo Drive-in is permanently closing. We have had so much fun with you all, whether you came just once or lots of times. We’d like to give a special shout-out to our sweet staff, loyal customers and vendors. We are grateful for the adventure!

Oddly, included on their Facebook page announcement, was a link to the May, 2024 county commission meeting where we discussed noise complaints from residents in the area of the Drive-In. They also included a link to the Loudon County zoning regulations pertaining to mining and quarrying with the section about noise highlighted.  Doubtful their business would fall under mining regulations.

4.220. Performance Standards for Earth Removal, Quarrying, Gravel Processing, Mining and Mineral Extraction Businesses

NUISANCE ABATEMENT 

1.     Noise and vibration shall be minimized in their effect upon adjacent properties by the utilization of modern equipment designed to accomplish such minimization and by the proper use of berms, walls, and natural planting screens.  All equipment shall be maintained and operated in such a manner so as to eliminate, as far as practicable, excessive noise and vibrations which are not necessary in the operation of such equipment.  Noise levels shall not exceed 70 dba at the property line. 

It almost seems they are somehow trying to implicate Loudon County in their decision to close. The drive-in is actually located within the city of Loudon and therefore under the jurisdiction Loudon City regulations, not Loudon County. I do not know if Loudon City has cracked down on the drive-in noise issues or not. In fact, they announced on their Facebook page back on December 27, 2024, that they were closed for the season. And based on all the negative comments on that post, it doesn't seem any government issues were their problem. LOCO leased the 10 acre property from the city of Loudon and Loudon County for $200.00 per month. Obviously, the lease price shouldn't have been a problem for them.

In the last year or so, residents had begun to complain about the excessive noise coming from the drive-in. The county commission and Loudon City officials had raised concerns with the operator who had originally said the movie sound would be transmitted through a low frequency FM radio signal or through an app on a smart phone but the large speakers were still being used. Then in early 2024, the operator began to hold what was billed as Mexican Rodeos which were actually just large concerts and parties including lots of alcohol but no animals. That's when the complaints really began to intensify. The first district county commissioners were representing their constituents when raising concerns about excessive noise coming from the drive-in.   

Even Lenoir City mayor, Tony Aikens, had to poke his nose into the issue by posting the referenced county commission meeting on his social media page. And once again, he had no idea what he was talking about. That's getting to be a regular occurrence. Maybe he should bring the drive-in to Lenoir City. He has shown over and over that he could care less what Lenoir City residents think.

So to be real clear, why the drive-in owners decides to close is on them. The county had nothing to do with their decision and I don't think Loudon City did either. Maybe it was just a bad business model. After all, there's a reason so many drive-in's closed up many years ago.  

East Tennessee loses another attraction as LoCo Drive-In closes its doors for good
Since 2021, the drive-in has been showing movies, hosting tailgates, concerts and church services

LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. WBIR.COM— East Tennessee has lost another family-friendly entertainment venue. The LoCo Drive-in announced Wednesday that it is closing for good, after nearly four years of business.

Since 2021, the LoCo Drive has been showing movies, hosting tailgates, concerts and church services.

"We had a lot of fun times here in Loudon and wish that it could have continued on, but there's just some things that didn't work out," Jacob Nelson, the manager of LoCo, said. "We're sorry to everybody that's been a patron over the years, that's been loyal supporters and we know that people are going to miss it."

While Nelson would not share the exact reason for the closure, they posted a link to a Loudon County Commission meeting on the drive-in's Facebook page. In that May 6, 2024, meeting, commissioners mentioned noise complaints.

"It was brought to our attention that the excessive noise that were was coming from the local drive-in, with some of the parties they were having," Chase Randolph, the Loudon County commissioner of District 1, said. "I was fielding dozens of complaints over that, so we put it on the agenda to discuss, a noise ordinance or any action that we could take to help preserve the integrity of the neighborhood."

Randolph said another issue was possibly the movies they played.

"It was billed as gonna show new release movies and they never have done that," Randolph said. "I think that was one of the major problems with the drive-in."

Nelson explained that the drive-in bought a Samsung LED board, expecting it to show first-run movies. They soon discovered, just before the grand opening, that it wouldn't work. Despite the setback, the owners decided to proceed with the project anyway. He also said they worked for the last three years trying to find solutions to play new movies, but it never ended up working out. 

Through all of this, Randolph said he was surprised to see the news of the closure.

"People went out and watched UT ball games, it was a good thing for the community," Randolph said. "I think that the noise had got under control, so it was kind of surprising to hear the news."

Nelson added he wishes they had been open for longer. With the closure of the LoCo Drive-In, there are now only two drive-in movie theatres within driving distance of Knoxville: the Parkway Drive-In Theater in Maryville and Swingin' Midway Drive-In in Athens. 

Local Drive-in theater shutting down for good
‘Loco Drive-in’ closing its doors after four years, hosted UT watch parties, movie nights and festivals
 

LOUDON CITY, Tenn. (WVLT) - For years, the Loco Drive-in has been a place for neighbors in Loudon County to go enjoy time together as a community.

The venue hosted University of Tennessee gamedays on Saturdays in the fall as well as playoff games for baseball in the spring. This was on top of festivals and movie nights they hosted for years.

Jacob Nelson is the owner of the Loco Drive-in. He said that recently, noise complaints have become a problem for the business that ultimately led to his decision to shut down.

“It was a major contributing factor into our decision. So, you know all things equal, if we could have just ran it as we used to we could have kept on just fine but that’s not how it went down so we made a decision,” Nelson said.
 

On Facebook, the drive-in initially called out the county for the noise ordinance.

Loudon County Commissioner Chase Randolph said that issue actually goes back to a city ordinance.

“It was never the movies or UT-ball games. It was always they were throwing some parties down there, you know, several thousand people. And that’s when we would get the calls with the excessive noise, with the music,” Randolph said.

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3/31/25