COLDWATER – Tom and Susan Magocs have amenities that any country backyard could have, including a pool, a barbecue and a flowerbed.

But their backyard is unlike many others thanks to the 700-car gravel parking lot they share with movie lovers every summer night.

The couple are the owners of the Capri Drive-In in Coldwater, which was started 50 years ago by Tom's parents, John Sr. and Mary Magocs. They purchased farmland, which still surrounds the two big screens, when drive-ins were a staple of nightly fun for families and teenage lovebirds.

"You know, moms didn't really like their daughters going into drive-ins," said Susan Magocs, who now helps run the concession stand that sits between the screens.

Now families mostly come to enjoy the outdoors and the fresh air the drive-in offers. Children can often be found underneath the main 150-foot screen playing catch or just running off steam before the movie starts.

"I like that he has room to run before and after movies," Amanda Gordon said about her 5-year-old son Jeremy. "Being in a movie seat doesn't work well, since he is a very energetic fellow."

The Capri is a bit of a novelty in Michigan, having opened during the boom of drive-in theaters in 1964 and now being among just a handful in operation around the state.

The Capri might have gone the way of other drive-in theaters during the decline in the 1980s and beyond, if not for a fortuitous decision by their movie booker in 1993.

Susan Magocs recalls difficult times when the theater in town would often get movies the Capri wanted to show but couldn't because distributors said they were too close of proximity to each other.

In 1993, the Capri borrowed money to put in a bid for a certain film, matching the bid put in by the local theater, Magocs said.

"For whatever reason, (the booker) gave the movie to us," Magocs said. "The movie turned out to be 'Jurassic Park.'"

Business boomed for the struggling drive-in, which played the box-office smash all summer to packed crowds.

While business has been steady for the past couple of years the most recent challenge has been the conversion to digital projection. Hollywood no longer makes gelatin film prints for old projectors. Now the movies come on hard drives, which are about as big as an old VHS tape and are put in new projectors that are the size of a home furnace.

Although Tom and Susan Magocs had to sell their lake house to buy the two projectors, their son Michael, 18, sees potential with the new technology.

"This projector has opened entire new options for us," he said.

Playing video games on the theater screens can now be done with a few wires hooked up to the projector and some technical savvy. In the spring, Michael had friends over to play games on the screen and envisions hosting tournaments at the drive-in.

"What other place can you play X-Box on a 150-feet screen?" Michael Magocs said.

Between the hustle of operating the drive-in and raising a family at the theater, Susan Magocs will often take a break just to soak in the sights surrounding her life.

"When that sun goes down, or just before it goes down, you get some of the most amazing shots," she said.

She pulls out her phone with a large gallery of sunset photos taken at the drive-in. "You're sitting in your car and then the stars come out. Is that not the best thing?"