Tascosa Drive-In in Amarillo, Texas, Appeals for Post-Windstorm Help

Even before the wind died down this past Friday there was a lot of damage in the city of Amarillo. There were trees that were uprooted. Roofs were damaged. Windows were busted out. The wind reached peaks of 83 mph in Amarillo.

So the fact that businesses had to close and a lot of people just stayed home was expected. Some homes even lost power and were still dealing with the outages on Saturday. There were car accidents as well. Amarillo is windy, but this was a special kind of windy, even to our standards.

Amarillo's Land Hurricane Saw Winds Up to 83 MPH

Before the winds even had the chance to die down, some businesses were already trying to gauge the situation and one that was deeply hurt was our beloved Tascosa Drive-In. They have had a heck of a go at it this past year or so.

They were on the brink of closing a few years ago and looking for new owners. When that didn't happen, they closed down in 2023. Then, as miracles happen the Dewitz who own both Big Jim's Pizza Co. and K-N Root Beer swooped in to save the day.

They announced the new ownership around the 4th of July last summer. So once they got it open they already missed a lot of the season. They opened up to show some great movies and hosted a Swap & Shop.

Just last week they announced they were opening for Spring Break and also getting ready for another Swap & Shop. Opening weekend saw them having to close on Saturday because of snow. Then it seemed like everything was good with the world until the land hurricane hit last Friday. They were hit big time.

Tascosa Drive-In Needs Amarillo's Help

First they announced the closure of their upcoming weekend of movies, and then upon further inspection, they realized they were going to need the community's help to be able to open again.

The wind took out a lot of the sheet metal in the drive-in. It damaged the ticket window booth and the drive-in movie screen. This family owned business needs your help. If everyone just took a second to donate, we could get them open and help make some much-needed improvements to keep them going for a long time.

I know people are asking about insurance and how that can help. According to the owners, they have not had any luck finding insurance that would cover the location:

We’ve been searching for insurance, but drive-ins are considered high-risk, making coverage hard to find and extremely expensive. One quote only covered liability—so it wouldn’t have helped with wind damage anyway. That’s why we started the GoFundMe. We truly appreciate everyone’s support, and if anyone knows of an insurer experienced with drive-ins, we’d love to hear about it!

The community loves the Dewitz and Tascosa Drive-in:

Hate to see the wind taking out the drive in before they can even get their season started. These new owners bought it last year to keep it from shutting down completely, so I’m sure they would appreciate any help you can give. They also own Big Jim’s Pizza Co. that we cut a ribbon for this week, so if nothing else, order some dinner! - Penni

They did assess exactly what was needed to help get them on their way. According to their social media post, they not only want to get up and running but make upgrades to improve their situation and keep them going for years. A community banding together to help a beloved local business. That is what Amarillo is all about.

Check out their GoFundMe HERE. You can also donate using Venmo or Cash App.