Latest Weirs Drive-In sale falls through

LACONIA — Drive-in movie buffs might be able to experience yet another season watching the latest horror film or action thriller under the stars at the Weirs Drive-In, given that the latest effort to sell the iconic attraction has fallen apart.

Drive-In owner Pat Baldi confirmed that the planned sale of the 12½ property in Weirs Beach had been called off when she and the out-of-town buyer were unable to agree on the terms of the sale.

“He wanted to change our contract,” Baldi said Wednesday, “and I didn’t agree to that change.”

She declined to elaborate about what the sticking point was, but said it had nothing to do with questions of the likelihood of Native American artifacts being found on the land.

Baldi said that the property would be put back on the market with an asking price “in excess of $3 million.”

Baldi said this makes the sixth time that she has tried — and failed — to sell the property.

She said that she is making arrangements to have a professional archaeologist survey the site to settle the issue of the ancient artifacts once and for all.

She said the relics that were found there many years ago were deposited when the Weirs Channel was dredged in the 1940s and the soil was trucked to the drive-in property to level the ground.

Asked whether she would reopen the drive-in in the spring, Baldi replied, “It looks like I am, although I don’t want to. I’m 82 and I want to retire,” she explained.

The latest potential buyer was looking at the land as the site for a hotel.

A deal to sell the property four years ago fell through after the prospective buyer, local businessman Al Mitchell, said he was concerned that development costs could be boosted if Native American artifacts were found on the land.

As she has said in the past, Baldi emphasized that the concerns about the potential of Native American relics being on the land are the result of rumors.