Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Bobbie Harris, manager of the Fiesta Drive-In, El Paso, was knocked down in a clash with a picket. The drive-in was being picketed following dispute over the discharge of a projectionist.”
This didn’t go as quickly as planned, but here’s the first announcement in Billboard on July 10, 1954: “Arthur Meiling, city manager of Long Theaters, Port Lavaca, Tex., has announced that the Port Drive-In there will be converted into a 1,600-car twin-screen drive-in. The project is expected to be completed by September 1 and will cost around $70,000.”
Almost a year later, the June 25, 1955 issue of Billboard noted: “The Port Lavaca Drive-In Theater at Port Lavaca, Tex., is being converted into a twin screen operation by the owner and operator, J. G. Long.”
The aerial photo here at CT is clearly a twin, so it deserves credit for two screens.
Centennial Drive-In, a new Denver open-airer said to be the largest west of the Mississippi, held a gala opening April 17. The project boasts a $500,000 installation of twin screens and sterophonic sound and has a capacity of 1,300 cars plus seating facilities for 500 additional customers. In addition, there is a complete kiddieland having a $500,000 miniature train installation. Site is the 60 acres of landscaped land comprising the area’s biggest race track. Owned by Television Theaters, Inc., headed by Tom Bailey, Ralph Batschelet and Gerald Schlessman, the theater received heavy publicity via radio, TV, newspapers and screen plugs in other company-owned theaters in advance of the opening. Initial attraction was “The Robe.” More than 4,000 prizes, including a Chevrolet, were given in a contest to name the theater’s concession stand. A remote TV show was also presented in connection with the opening.
And more details in the June 5, 1954 issue:
At Easter, Television Theaters, Inc., opened with a new twin screen, stereophonic sound drive-in, located on part of Denver’s swank Centennial Park race track. Recently Ralph Batschelet, general manager, announced the addition of Zero’s Hollywood Circus as part of the children’s playground. The miniature circus tent will feature cartoons for kiddies who pay only a dime after being admitted to the theater free.
I’m guessing that Batschelet was sending regular notices to Billboard, since he turned up again on July 10:
Ralph Batschelet’s Centennial Drive-In, Denver, is looking for big business thru the summer as the racing season gets under way. Located on part of the grounds of the West’s most modern track, the Centennial is a natural to draw not only the regular patronage of tourists and natives, but also horsemen in town for the 100-day running season. Excellent publicity and promotion has developed good trade for the twin screen drive-in. Participating spots on local TV shows, along with passes to teen-agers participating in the shows, live acts and other gimmicks has made the Centennial formidable competition. Last week, in addition to the usual twin-feature bill. Batschelet brought in Morey Burbank, aerial artist, for an intermission act, as well as to Mr. Zero. midget employee, who takes kiddies for rides in his small car, gives them postcards and does a generally good job of appealing to the kid trade.
Billboard, July 10, 1954: “The Blue Sky Drive-In at Pontiac, Mich., is installing a huge attraction board, 40 feet long by 27 high, said to be the largest for an outdoor theater in the State.”
Billboard, July 3, 1954: “Andalusia (Pa.) Drive-In opened with 20th Century-Fox’s CinemaScope "The Robe.” The open-airer, built by the Kauffman brothers and Laska, is the first in this part of the territory to play CinemaScope. The feature will be presented in single-track magnetic sound thru the use of a mixer. The theater is being serviced by the Theater Service Company, buying and booking agency operated by Earl M. Sweigert, Philadelphia."
Owner info from the July 3, 1954 issue of Billboard: “White Rock Terrace Drive-In has been opened at Dallas by Robert Hartgrove and Joan Holt. The drive-in has a 600-car capacity.”
HistoricAerials.com has a useful Compare feature for superimposing new aerial photos over old ones. Kennerado is on target – that rectangular building is the same shape and in the same location on the site as the original projection / concession building.
Apparently late news from Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Three Regina, Sask., businessmen, T. Berenbaum Sr., I. Berenbaum Sr. and Max Lifshitz have opened the city’s newest drive-in, the Starlite. Theater covers 20 acres and accommodates 750 cars.”
Also in the same issue: “New government regulations for theaters in
Saskatchewan include a provision against drive-ins being built within two miles of each other.”
From Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Triple swimming pools are part of a $50,000 improvement program under way at the Lone Star and Samuel Bolevard (sic) Drive-In theaters at Dallas. Other improvements include picnic patios, panoramic screens, booth equipment and general repainting and renovating. Each of the drive-ins will have three pools, two for kids and one for adults. Use of the pools and picnic patios will be free to patrons.”
From Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Triple swimming pools are part of a $50,000 improvement program under way at the Lone Star and Samuel Bolevard (sic) Drive-In theaters at Dallas. Other improvements include picnic patios, panoramic screens, booth equipment and general repainting and renovating. Each of the drive-ins will have three pools, two for kids and one for adults. Use of the pools and picnic patios will be free to patrons.”
From the June 19, 1954 issue of Billboard: “In Dagsboro, Del., Alfred W. Goodyear, owner of the Dagsboro Drive-In, was held under $500 bail on each of two charges of exhibiting indecent pictures. State police said they visited the drive-in after receiving complaints about the show. After looking for a time at what they termed burlesque-style motion pictures, they stopped the show and confiscated the film. Goodyear was arraigned in Sussex County Court and held for further hearing.”
From the June 12, 1954 issue of Billboard: “V. E. Hamm has purchased the Hunt and Trail Drive-In theaters, Greenville, Tex., from his brother, M. E. Hamm. Monroe Wright has been named manager.”
From the June 12, 1954 issue of Billboard: “V. E. Hamm has purchased the Hunt and Trail Drive-In theaters, Greenville, Tex., from his brother, M. E. Hamm. Monroe Wright has been named manager.”
On June 5, 1954, Billboard reported that the Meriden’s owners were building a drive-in in back. “A new $125,000 drive-in with capacity for 815 cars, now being erected at Meriden, Conn., will have a screen measuring 120 feet wide. Nick Kounaris and Paul Tolis, partners in Kounaris and Tolis Theaters, are building the project in the rear of their first-run Meriden Theater. July completion is planned.”
The 1952-54 editions of the Theatre Catalog listed the 77 as owned by Woodrow Good and George Clements. The 1955-56 edition had the owner as W. A. Smith. Billboard magazine filled in the connection on June 5, 1954: “Mr. and Mrs. Wilford A. Smith have purchased Cameron (Tex.) Drive-In. The Smiths come from Temple where they operated a theater for 10 years.”
More hints from the June 5, 1954 issue of Billboard: “Rocket Drive-In, San Angelo, Tex., which was extensively damaged by high winds for the second time this year, is being remodeled and will be equipped to show CinemaScope, according to John D. Jones.”
Billboard, Feb, 27, 1954: “Ivan Solis and G. R. Garza have announced that construction has started at Alice, Tex., on a 500-car drive-in which will feature the showing of Spanish language films.”
And about three months later, the exact opening date…
“G. R. Garza and the Solis brothers opened the new 500-car Ranch Drive-In at Alice, Tex., on May 9.” – Billboard, June 5, 1954
The April 17, 1954 issue of Billboard provided more background:
New to the Denver area is the indoor-outdoor theater now nearing completion in the Northwest section of the city. Construction of the Wadsworth drive-in marks the culmination of a long-time dream of L. K. Lee, general manager of Lee Theaters of Greeley, Colorado Springs and Denver. It will serve an area of nearly 50,000 patrons. Featuring a double ramp arrangement for 1,000 cars and seating capacity for 600 patrons in the glass enclosed, air-conditioned indoor theater, all will view the same 96-foot CinemaScope screen. This, plus the latest in-car electric heaters, will make the drive-in a year-round operation. Also available will be rides for children, adjacent to the theater’s picnic area. An open-view, stainless steel cafeteria will dispense hot and cold foods. Lee came to Denver from Oklahoma in 1945. His first venture in the Denver area was a partnership in the Arvada. He helped build the Motorena, Greeley, in 1949 and had a hand in construction of the drive-in at Torrington, Wyo. Others with which he is connected are the Kar-Vu, Brighton, and the Monace Drive-In, Denver. LeRoy Ramsey, former manager of the Tower Theater, Denver, has been named manager of the Wadsworth. Victor Love, of Ad Film, Inc., will continue to do publicity and advertising for the five Lee theaters.
And the June 5, 1954 edition kept those details gushing:
The second drive-in to open in the Denver area within six weeks pulled excellent crowds as the Lee Theater chain opened its 1,000-car Wadsworth Drive-In. The opening was postponed for a week due to bad weather, but the delay gave LeRoy Ramsey opportunity for more advertising and promotional stunts. … At the Wadsworth, utilizing both indoor and outdoor facilities, the Lee brothers have instigated a permanent policy of admitting every 50th car free. Opening festivities included free gifts for every customer and special kid gimmicks.
From Billboard, May 22, 1954: “Blue Hills Drive-In Theater Corporation, Bloomfield, Conn., has erected an eight-foot aluminum fence around its property at a cost of $10,000.”
The drive-in was still intact in a 1980 aerial photo. It was in Wyoming, on the highway to Forest Lake, at 5680 259th St
Wyoming, MN 55092. By 1991, it had been replaced by housing, and no trace of it remains today.
In an article yesterday in the Forest Lake Times, there was an offhand mention of the Hub. “When Bob and Jayne (Drummond) expanded their business network in 1959 to open the Hub Drive-In Theatre in Wyoming, there were more employment opportunities for the Drummond girls.”
OTOH, Norhart’s Forest Lake History page said that it was 1958 when “Mr. and Mrs. Bob Drummond and Everette Struble opened the Hub Drive-In Theater.”
Writing in 2004 about a bowling alley sign, Mark Nicklawske wrote in Press, “The Hub drive-in theater, between Forest Lake and Wyoming, had a huge sign, but that was more of a billboard-type thing.”
There’s a lengthy, history-packed article in yesterday’s Forest Lake Times marking the sale of the Forest building to “a partnership group of Bob Anderson, Matthew Anderson and Natalie Harrer. … The bar and restaurant is slated for major remodeling and a future operation as Fireside Getaway.”
Highlights from local historian Brian Tolzmann:
“The earliest I have in my archive is from the May 20, 1916, edition of Motion Picture World, which said, ‘The new Forest Theatre has been taken over by F.W. Walker.’”
There were at least eight ownership changes through the years.
“Three years after taking over the operation, the Fladlands (Jackie and Dwayne) opened Forest II in April 1980. The 89-seat auditorium allowed the owners to showcase two feature films. The main auditorium, Forest I, had seating for 264.”
The Forest’s final show was on May 29, 1990, with the two screens featuring “Hunt for Red October” and “Born on the 4th of July.”
From Billboard, May 15, 1954: “Tom Sumners has purchased El Capitan Drive-In, San Antonio, his first drive-in operation. He operates the Laurel, Josephine and Woodlawn theaters. Sumners plans to continue the present double feature policy at the El Capitan – one Spanish language and one English language film.”
From Billboard, May 15, 1954: “For the second time in recent weeks vandals with a shotgun shattered the glass marquee of the Circle Drive-In, Lubbock, Tex. Marvin McLarty. owner of the drive-in, has posted a $100 reward for the arrest and conviction of vandals.”
From the May 8, 1954 Billboard: “Construction has been started on a
third drive-in at Kingsville, Tex., on a 10-acre tract of land. It will be operated by Koseph & Kyle, operator of the King’s and Brahama drive-ins. According to Chester Kyle the new drive-in will have a 350-car capacity and will feature Spanish language films.”
From the April 24, 1954 Billboard: “Name of the Route 130 Drive-In, Trenton, N. J., has been changed to the Trenton Drive-In, and corporate name of the operator is now Mercer Drive-In Corporation.”
Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Bobbie Harris, manager of the Fiesta Drive-In, El Paso, was knocked down in a clash with a picket. The drive-in was being picketed following dispute over the discharge of a projectionist.”
This didn’t go as quickly as planned, but here’s the first announcement in Billboard on July 10, 1954: “Arthur Meiling, city manager of Long Theaters, Port Lavaca, Tex., has announced that the Port Drive-In there will be converted into a 1,600-car twin-screen drive-in. The project is expected to be completed by September 1 and will cost around $70,000.”
Almost a year later, the June 25, 1955 issue of Billboard noted: “The Port Lavaca Drive-In Theater at Port Lavaca, Tex., is being converted into a twin screen operation by the owner and operator, J. G. Long.”
The aerial photo here at CT is clearly a twin, so it deserves credit for two screens.
Larger chunk in the May 8, 1954 Billboard:
Centennial Drive-In, a new Denver open-airer said to be the largest west of the Mississippi, held a gala opening April 17. The project boasts a $500,000 installation of twin screens and sterophonic sound and has a capacity of 1,300 cars plus seating facilities for 500 additional customers. In addition, there is a complete kiddieland having a $500,000 miniature train installation. Site is the 60 acres of landscaped land comprising the area’s biggest race track. Owned by Television Theaters, Inc., headed by Tom Bailey, Ralph Batschelet and Gerald Schlessman, the theater received heavy publicity via radio, TV, newspapers and screen plugs in other company-owned theaters in advance of the opening. Initial attraction was “The Robe.” More than 4,000 prizes, including a Chevrolet, were given in a contest to name the theater’s concession stand. A remote TV show was also presented in connection with the opening.
And more details in the June 5, 1954 issue:
At Easter, Television Theaters, Inc., opened with a new twin screen, stereophonic sound drive-in, located on part of Denver’s swank Centennial Park race track. Recently Ralph Batschelet, general manager, announced the addition of Zero’s Hollywood Circus as part of the children’s playground. The miniature circus tent will feature cartoons for kiddies who pay only a dime after being admitted to the theater free.
I’m guessing that Batschelet was sending regular notices to Billboard, since he turned up again on July 10:
Ralph Batschelet’s Centennial Drive-In, Denver, is looking for big business thru the summer as the racing season gets under way. Located on part of the grounds of the West’s most modern track, the Centennial is a natural to draw not only the regular patronage of tourists and natives, but also horsemen in town for the 100-day running season. Excellent publicity and promotion has developed good trade for the twin screen drive-in. Participating spots on local TV shows, along with passes to teen-agers participating in the shows, live acts and other gimmicks has made the Centennial formidable competition. Last week, in addition to the usual twin-feature bill. Batschelet brought in Morey Burbank, aerial artist, for an intermission act, as well as to Mr. Zero. midget employee, who takes kiddies for rides in his small car, gives them postcards and does a generally good job of appealing to the kid trade.
Billboard, July 10, 1954: “The Blue Sky Drive-In at Pontiac, Mich., is installing a huge attraction board, 40 feet long by 27 high, said to be the largest for an outdoor theater in the State.”
Billboard, July 3, 1954: “Andalusia (Pa.) Drive-In opened with 20th Century-Fox’s CinemaScope "The Robe.” The open-airer, built by the Kauffman brothers and Laska, is the first in this part of the territory to play CinemaScope. The feature will be presented in single-track magnetic sound thru the use of a mixer. The theater is being serviced by the Theater Service Company, buying and booking agency operated by Earl M. Sweigert, Philadelphia."
Owner info from the July 3, 1954 issue of Billboard: “White Rock Terrace Drive-In has been opened at Dallas by Robert Hartgrove and Joan Holt. The drive-in has a 600-car capacity.”
HistoricAerials.com has a useful Compare feature for superimposing new aerial photos over old ones. Kennerado is on target – that rectangular building is the same shape and in the same location on the site as the original projection / concession building.
Apparently late news from Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Three Regina, Sask., businessmen, T. Berenbaum Sr., I. Berenbaum Sr. and Max Lifshitz have opened the city’s newest drive-in, the Starlite. Theater covers 20 acres and accommodates 750 cars.”
Also in the same issue: “New government regulations for theaters in Saskatchewan include a provision against drive-ins being built within two miles of each other.”
From Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Triple swimming pools are part of a $50,000 improvement program under way at the Lone Star and Samuel Bolevard (sic) Drive-In theaters at Dallas. Other improvements include picnic patios, panoramic screens, booth equipment and general repainting and renovating. Each of the drive-ins will have three pools, two for kids and one for adults. Use of the pools and picnic patios will be free to patrons.”
From Billboard, June 26, 1954: “Triple swimming pools are part of a $50,000 improvement program under way at the Lone Star and Samuel Bolevard (sic) Drive-In theaters at Dallas. Other improvements include picnic patios, panoramic screens, booth equipment and general repainting and renovating. Each of the drive-ins will have three pools, two for kids and one for adults. Use of the pools and picnic patios will be free to patrons.”
From the June 19, 1954 issue of Billboard: “In Dagsboro, Del., Alfred W. Goodyear, owner of the Dagsboro Drive-In, was held under $500 bail on each of two charges of exhibiting indecent pictures. State police said they visited the drive-in after receiving complaints about the show. After looking for a time at what they termed burlesque-style motion pictures, they stopped the show and confiscated the film. Goodyear was arraigned in Sussex County Court and held for further hearing.”
From the June 12, 1954 issue of Billboard: “V. E. Hamm has purchased the Hunt and Trail Drive-In theaters, Greenville, Tex., from his brother, M. E. Hamm. Monroe Wright has been named manager.”
From the June 12, 1954 issue of Billboard: “V. E. Hamm has purchased the Hunt and Trail Drive-In theaters, Greenville, Tex., from his brother, M. E. Hamm. Monroe Wright has been named manager.”
On June 5, 1954, Billboard reported that the Meriden’s owners were building a drive-in in back. “A new $125,000 drive-in with capacity for 815 cars, now being erected at Meriden, Conn., will have a screen measuring 120 feet wide. Nick Kounaris and Paul Tolis, partners in Kounaris and Tolis Theaters, are building the project in the rear of their first-run Meriden Theater. July completion is planned.”
The 1952-54 editions of the Theatre Catalog listed the 77 as owned by Woodrow Good and George Clements. The 1955-56 edition had the owner as W. A. Smith. Billboard magazine filled in the connection on June 5, 1954: “Mr. and Mrs. Wilford A. Smith have purchased Cameron (Tex.) Drive-In. The Smiths come from Temple where they operated a theater for 10 years.”
More hints from the June 5, 1954 issue of Billboard: “Rocket Drive-In, San Angelo, Tex., which was extensively damaged by high winds for the second time this year, is being remodeled and will be equipped to show CinemaScope, according to John D. Jones.”
Billboard, Feb, 27, 1954: “Ivan Solis and G. R. Garza have announced that construction has started at Alice, Tex., on a 500-car drive-in which will feature the showing of Spanish language films.”
And about three months later, the exact opening date…
“G. R. Garza and the Solis brothers opened the new 500-car Ranch Drive-In at Alice, Tex., on May 9.” – Billboard, June 5, 1954
The April 17, 1954 issue of Billboard provided more background:
New to the Denver area is the indoor-outdoor theater now nearing completion in the Northwest section of the city. Construction of the Wadsworth drive-in marks the culmination of a long-time dream of L. K. Lee, general manager of Lee Theaters of Greeley, Colorado Springs and Denver. It will serve an area of nearly 50,000 patrons. Featuring a double ramp arrangement for 1,000 cars and seating capacity for 600 patrons in the glass enclosed, air-conditioned indoor theater, all will view the same 96-foot CinemaScope screen. This, plus the latest in-car electric heaters, will make the drive-in a year-round operation. Also available will be rides for children, adjacent to the theater’s picnic area. An open-view, stainless steel cafeteria will dispense hot and cold foods. Lee came to Denver from Oklahoma in 1945. His first venture in the Denver area was a partnership in the Arvada. He helped build the Motorena, Greeley, in 1949 and had a hand in construction of the drive-in at Torrington, Wyo. Others with which he is connected are the Kar-Vu, Brighton, and the Monace Drive-In, Denver. LeRoy Ramsey, former manager of the Tower Theater, Denver, has been named manager of the Wadsworth. Victor Love, of Ad Film, Inc., will continue to do publicity and advertising for the five Lee theaters.
And the June 5, 1954 edition kept those details gushing:
The second drive-in to open in the Denver area within six weeks pulled excellent crowds as the Lee Theater chain opened its 1,000-car Wadsworth Drive-In. The opening was postponed for a week due to bad weather, but the delay gave LeRoy Ramsey opportunity for more advertising and promotional stunts. … At the Wadsworth, utilizing both indoor and outdoor facilities, the Lee brothers have instigated a permanent policy of admitting every 50th car free. Opening festivities included free gifts for every customer and special kid gimmicks.
From Billboard, May 22, 1954: “Blue Hills Drive-In Theater Corporation, Bloomfield, Conn., has erected an eight-foot aluminum fence around its property at a cost of $10,000.”
The drive-in was still intact in a 1980 aerial photo. It was in Wyoming, on the highway to Forest Lake, at 5680 259th St Wyoming, MN 55092. By 1991, it had been replaced by housing, and no trace of it remains today.
In an article yesterday in the Forest Lake Times, there was an offhand mention of the Hub. “When Bob and Jayne (Drummond) expanded their business network in 1959 to open the Hub Drive-In Theatre in Wyoming, there were more employment opportunities for the Drummond girls.”
OTOH, Norhart’s Forest Lake History page said that it was 1958 when “Mr. and Mrs. Bob Drummond and Everette Struble opened the Hub Drive-In Theater.”
Writing in 2004 about a bowling alley sign, Mark Nicklawske wrote in Press, “The Hub drive-in theater, between Forest Lake and Wyoming, had a huge sign, but that was more of a billboard-type thing.”
There’s a lengthy, history-packed article in yesterday’s Forest Lake Times marking the sale of the Forest building to “a partnership group of Bob Anderson, Matthew Anderson and Natalie Harrer. … The bar and restaurant is slated for major remodeling and a future operation as Fireside Getaway.”
Highlights from local historian Brian Tolzmann:
“The earliest I have in my archive is from the May 20, 1916, edition of Motion Picture World, which said, ‘The new Forest Theatre has been taken over by F.W. Walker.’”
There were at least eight ownership changes through the years.
“Three years after taking over the operation, the Fladlands (Jackie and Dwayne) opened Forest II in April 1980. The 89-seat auditorium allowed the owners to showcase two feature films. The main auditorium, Forest I, had seating for 264.”
The Forest’s final show was on May 29, 1990, with the two screens featuring “Hunt for Red October” and “Born on the 4th of July.”
From Billboard, May 15, 1954: “Tom Sumners has purchased El Capitan Drive-In, San Antonio, his first drive-in operation. He operates the Laurel, Josephine and Woodlawn theaters. Sumners plans to continue the present double feature policy at the El Capitan – one Spanish language and one English language film.”
From Billboard, May 15, 1954: “For the second time in recent weeks vandals with a shotgun shattered the glass marquee of the Circle Drive-In, Lubbock, Tex. Marvin McLarty. owner of the drive-in, has posted a $100 reward for the arrest and conviction of vandals.”
From the May 8, 1954 Billboard: “Construction has been started on a third drive-in at Kingsville, Tex., on a 10-acre tract of land. It will be operated by Koseph & Kyle, operator of the King’s and Brahama drive-ins. According to Chester Kyle the new drive-in will have a 350-car capacity and will feature Spanish language films.”
From the April 24, 1954 Billboard: “Name of the Route 130 Drive-In, Trenton, N. J., has been changed to the Trenton Drive-In, and corporate name of the operator is now Mercer Drive-In Corporation.”