Alphonso DiPietro remembers taking his wife and two children to the drive-in theatre back in the 1960s.

His oldest son sat in his pajamas between DiPietro, a math professor at Eastern, and his wife. Meanwhile, his daughter, only a few months old, sat on his wife’s lap.

Even as a family, he didn’t make going to the drive-in a habit.

DiPietro didn’t go to drive-ins very often because regular movie theaters were more comfortable.

“I can’t believe the drive-ins are fighting back,” he said.

Now that Charleston has a new drive-in, DiPietro wonders how modernized it will be compared to the ones in his past.

The Stardust Drive-In, Charleston’s new drive-in theater, 375 N. 14th St. opened on June 27. Mark McSparin is the owner, but his father, Carl, who has been in the drive-in industry for more than 30 years, is the manager.

The drive-in industry hit its peak in 1958, when 4,063 drive-in theaters were operational.

According to drive-in advocates Kipp and Jennifer Sherer, who run the Web site www.driveins.com, 405 theaters remained last year. In Illinois, 13 theaters operated in 2007.

Kipp said growing up in Ohio, he frequently attended drive-in theaters. But as he and his sister considered opening a drive-in of their own in the mid-1990s, they realized how few remained so they put the Web site together.

The McSparins have owned several drive-ins, but recently sold them and said they wanted to open one in Charleston because they live here.

Many drive-ins across the country have been torn down to build banks, Wal-Marts and Targets, the elder McSparin said.

“Even though it’s declined from its heyday, there is still a drive-in audience,” he added.

McSparin said the average age group the drive-in has attracted so far has been 30- to 50-year-old patrons with children.

The Stardust Drive-In has struggled in its first couple of months, McSparin said, partially because of inclement weather and intense storms that battered Charleston.

“We had a bad summer because of that intense amount of rain,” McSparin said.

The drive-in environment differs greatly from other theaters, he said. Some people come before the movie starts and play with Frisbees in the grass. Some people bring pickup trucks and sit in the back of them. Others bring lawn chairs and kids in pajamas.

“Drive-ins try to show G and PG movies to draw in a mom, a dad, and two kids,” McSparin said. “The idea of a drive-in is to bring kids in pajamas and make them fall asleep.”

However, now that Eastern students are here, McSparin hopes there will be more young people there.

The McSparins have considered adding a second screen to the theater.

Right now, double features on the single screen cost $6. For information about Stardust, call 345-8800 or to get show times, call 345-5900.

Verge Editor Marco Santana contributed to this report