The Star-Vu Drive-In, conceived by four entrepreneurs with a soft spot for outdoor movie-going, is set to open in May at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

"All four of the people who are doing this are baby boomers, like me, who enjoyed drive-ins growing up," said Jill Lloyd, spokeswoman for Orange County Drive-In LLC, the company behind the endeavor.

Reflecting a nationwide trend, local drive-ins bit the dust in droves during recent decades, giving way variously to Wal-Marts, shopping centers and apartments.

At least 11 "ozoners," as aficionados lovingly call drive-ins, were built in Orange County beginning in 1941, later caving as real estate values soared. The last of the lot, Westminster's Highway 39 Drive-In, closed in 1997.

The medium's golden age was the late 1950s, when more than 4,000 drive-ins operated nationwide, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association. Now, fewer than 400 exist.

The Star-Vu, approved by Orange County Fair directors in late January, will operate seven nights a week, except during the fair. First-run movies will flicker on a 65-foot-by-33-foot inflatable screen in a Fair Drive parking lot with room for 300 cars. Sound will be delivered via FM radio.

Officials say tickets and concessions will run about 25 percent less than standard brick-and-mortar theaters. Classic cars could get special parking to add a sentimental flair, and the spectacle might be complemented with bands, jugglers and comedians, said Fred Armendariz, who conceived the idea after seeing a film festival at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Jeffrey Teller, head of the Orange County Marketplace and one of Star-Vu's principals, recalls fogging up the windows with a sweetheart at the old Highway 39 Drive-In. For the Star-Vu, he envisions a family environment replete with moms, dads and kids in pajamas that will revive a "sense of nostalgia in the community."

"We all kind of covet a time when life was more simple," Teller said. "It's amazing how iconic the drive-in is in American culture. It has a generational appeal."

Aside from Teller and Armendariz, the drive-in's principals include Lake Forest resident Mary Jean Duran, who runs a consulting firm, and Bob Deutsch, owner of a Maryland company specializing in outdoor movies.