To give the screen structure a more substantial-looking base, Lee designed a series of tall ladder-like structures (6) that he covered with translucent corrugated plastic panels. This structure may have been illuminated from within at night to attract customers.
The Rancho Drive-In in San Diego was built in the same year (1948) as the Edwards Drive-In in Arcadia. Although no construction photos survive, the construction technique was presumably similar. In this example, Lee used the street side of the screen structure to feature a colorful mural-like scene of the Mexican landscape illuminated from behind, a cultural reference appropriate to the border city of San Diego.
This view of the screen shows the typical drive-in parking lot and speaker stanchions. The wings flanking the projection screen were built to deflect light from passing cars and also to obstruct the view of the screen from non-paying viewers outside the parking lot.
