Boxoffice, Feb. 5, 1949: “The drive-in now under construction by Fred Crockett (in Phoenix) was expected to have an opening March 1. To be known as the Cinema Park when completed, the open-airer is being built on a 12-acre tract at a cost of $200,000. It will be the largest drive-in in the state, with a capacity of approximately 1,000 cars.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 29, 1949: “Most of the branch managers went to Fort Collins as guests of Ray Davis, district manager for Fox Intermountain, and Bill Dollison, booker, to inspect the newly remodeled Lyric, which will become the first run theatre there.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 29, 1949: “John H. Roberts is doing extensive remodeling to the interior of the Emerson, Brush, Colo., and is installing new Simplex and booth equipment, bought from National Theatre Supply”
Boxoffice, Jan. 15, 1949: “PUEBLO, COLO. – L. R. Semon and W. H. Mayne plan to build a second drive-in theatre here. The two men now operate a $125,000 open air theatre on the city’s northwestern edge. The new ozoner will be smaller than the present drive-in.” That larger drive-in was the Pueblo Drive-In.
Was it ever renamed the Lake? Here’s a note from the Jan. 15, 1949 issue of Boxoffice:
JOHNSTOWN, COLO. – With an extension of 25 feet to the building, the newly reopened Lake Theatre now has more room for patrons between seat rows. Each seat has been reupholstered and respaced. A new stage, suitable for local and professional use, and complete with a new stage curtain, has also been erected. Other improvements include a new screen which is twice as large as the old one, two modern restrooms, new acoustical wall coverings and new overhead and wall lights.
And from the July 22, 1950 issue:
JOHNSTOWN, COLO. – A Wurlitzer electric organ has been installed in the Lake Theatre here and is being used for a brief program which is featured nightly between shows. Dave Warnock, owner and operator of the theatre, is the organist.
Boxoffice, Jan. 15, 1949: “JULESBURG, COLO. – Lynn Zorn, 38, owner of the Hippodrome Theatre here, died from a heart attack brought on by shoveling snow in the recent blizzard. Zorn has operated the Hippodrome for a number of years, since the death of his monther.”
Yet another spelling, the expected one, was in this note from Boxoffice, Jan. 8, 1949: “OURAY, COLO. – The Ouray Theatre reopened recently after completion of repairs to damages incurred in a fire about six weeks ago. Repairs included installation of fireproof booths, new projectors and other equipment.” Another note in the same issue mentioned that Les McClary was the manager of the Ouray.
Boxoffice, Jan. 8, 1949: “Russell Allen is building a 550-seat, $100,000 theatre in Farmington, N. M., where he already owns another. The new theatre will be given an Indian name, Totah, and is scheduled to open in the spring.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 1, 1949: “CRESTED BUTTE, COLO. – Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Verzuh have sold the Princess Theatre here to Rudy Sedmak and Martin Verzuh. The couple recently purchased the Columbine hotel in Gunnison and plan to move there soon.”
From The Independent Film Journal, May 2, 1953, “M. J. Konemann is building a 450-car ozoner, to be named the Hicks on 96, at Pueblo, Colo., which he hopes to open May 28.”
Followed by a note in the June 27, 1953 issue, “M. J. Konemann opened his 360-car “Hicks on 96” drive-in, Pueblo, Colo.”
In August 1952, trade publications wrote that “Sever, Downing and Sever” were building a drive-in, which one said was going to be named the Valley. But the first true opening announcement was in the April 4, 1953 Motion Picture Herald: “Carl Downing and A. C. Silver (sic) have opened their new Starlite drive-in, Rocky Ford, Colo.”
The date when Gibralter, a loose confederation of independent regional owners, bought the Starlite is still fuzzy, but Commonwealth bought it from Gibralter effective June 22, 1962, based on an article in the July 2, 1962 issue of Boxoffice.
Based on a fragment of the June 15, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily, the Fox in Longmont was sold that month by Fox Intermountain Theatres “to Robert Smith of Denver, who formerly operated houses in Steamboat Springs and Oak Creek”.
Here’s what is probably another name for this theater in little Ouray, from the June 10, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “OURAY, Colo., June 9. – A. B. Hilliard, operator of the Chipeta Theatre here and the Nugget Theatre in Telluride, died of a heart attack while visiting in Denver.”
From the April 23, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “Fox Intermountain Theatres has closed the Egyptian Theatre, Delta, Colo., and is using the idle marquee to advertise the fact that the property is for sale.”
Mrs. Bert Lewis of the Peerless Theatre joined Allied Rocky Mountain Independent Theatres in early 1959, per a note in the April 2, 1959 Motion Picture Daily.
The Valley News of Lebanon NH ran a story yesterday that confirmed that the sign is part of the original White River marquee, that it’s still used to announce community events, and that it is about to be moved. The Vermont Department of Transportation will change the intersection to a roundabout. Hartford Town Manager Brannon Godfrey said the town is looking for another good location for it because “we know there is an interest in preserving that for its nostalgia and history with the town.”
From a fragment of the March 10, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “(missing) Nelson, manager of the Fox (Theat)re, Leadville, Colo., has pur(chased) the house from Fox Inter(mount)ain Theatres. He will operate it (as an?) individual and plans no change (in pol)icy.”
From a fragment of the March 10, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “(missing)rb Boehm has purchased from (missing) Roberts the Cover Theatre and (the?) Valley Drive-In, Fort Morgan, (Colo.)”
From the March 2, 1959 Motion Picture Daily: “WALSENBURG, Colo., March 1 – The Fox Theatre here, a unit of Fox Intermountain Theatres, has been sold by the circuit to Frank Piazza of this community. No change in house policy is planned.”
It appears that the Unique was renamed the West in the mid-1950s by Atlas Theatre Corp. In the theater circuit listings of the Motion Picture Almanac series, Atlas owned the Unique in 1955-56, then the West from 1957 through 1976. Both Atlas and the West were absent from the 1977 MPA.
On Page 77 of “Western State College: Mountain Mecca” by Duane Vandenbusche, there’s a photo of a group standing in front of the West marquee with a caption that refers to “Gunnison’s West Theatre”.
The Nor-West was still operating on May 31, 1996, when the Denver Post ran an article about the remaining active drive-ins in the area. Bill Holshue then owned the Nor-West and the 88 of Commerce City.
Boxoffice, Feb. 5, 1949: “The drive-in now under construction by Fred Crockett (in Phoenix) was expected to have an opening March 1. To be known as the Cinema Park when completed, the open-airer is being built on a 12-acre tract at a cost of $200,000. It will be the largest drive-in in the state, with a capacity of approximately 1,000 cars.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 29, 1949: “Most of the branch managers went to Fort Collins as guests of Ray Davis, district manager for Fox Intermountain, and Bill Dollison, booker, to inspect the newly remodeled Lyric, which will become the first run theatre there.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 29, 1949: “John H. Roberts is doing extensive remodeling to the interior of the Emerson, Brush, Colo., and is installing new Simplex and booth equipment, bought from National Theatre Supply”
Boxoffice, Jan. 15, 1949: “PUEBLO, COLO. – L. R. Semon and W. H. Mayne plan to build a second drive-in theatre here. The two men now operate a $125,000 open air theatre on the city’s northwestern edge. The new ozoner will be smaller than the present drive-in.” That larger drive-in was the Pueblo Drive-In.
Was it ever renamed the Lake? Here’s a note from the Jan. 15, 1949 issue of Boxoffice:
JOHNSTOWN, COLO. – With an extension of 25 feet to the building, the newly reopened Lake Theatre now has more room for patrons between seat rows. Each seat has been reupholstered and respaced. A new stage, suitable for local and professional use, and complete with a new stage curtain, has also been erected. Other improvements include a new screen which is twice as large as the old one, two modern restrooms, new acoustical wall coverings and new overhead and wall lights.
And from the July 22, 1950 issue:
JOHNSTOWN, COLO. – A Wurlitzer electric organ has been installed in the Lake Theatre here and is being used for a brief program which is featured nightly between shows. Dave Warnock, owner and operator of the theatre, is the organist.
Boxoffice, Jan. 15, 1949: “JULESBURG, COLO. – Lynn Zorn, 38, owner of the Hippodrome Theatre here, died from a heart attack brought on by shoveling snow in the recent blizzard. Zorn has operated the Hippodrome for a number of years, since the death of his monther.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 15, 1949: “RIFLE, COLO. – The old Ute Theatre building has been purchased by Jimmy LeDonne who, with a partner, plans to remodel.”
Yet another spelling, the expected one, was in this note from Boxoffice, Jan. 8, 1949: “OURAY, COLO. – The Ouray Theatre reopened recently after completion of repairs to damages incurred in a fire about six weeks ago. Repairs included installation of fireproof booths, new projectors and other equipment.” Another note in the same issue mentioned that Les McClary was the manager of the Ouray.
Boxoffice, Jan. 8, 1949: “Russell Allen is building a 550-seat, $100,000 theatre in Farmington, N. M., where he already owns another. The new theatre will be given an Indian name, Totah, and is scheduled to open in the spring.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 1, 1949: “CRESTED BUTTE, COLO. – Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Verzuh have sold the Princess Theatre here to Rudy Sedmak and Martin Verzuh. The couple recently purchased the Columbine hotel in Gunnison and plan to move there soon.”
From The Independent Film Journal, May 2, 1953, “M. J. Konemann is building a 450-car ozoner, to be named the Hicks on 96, at Pueblo, Colo., which he hopes to open May 28.”
Followed by a note in the June 27, 1953 issue, “M. J. Konemann opened his 360-car “Hicks on 96” drive-in, Pueblo, Colo.”
In August 1952, trade publications wrote that “Sever, Downing and Sever” were building a drive-in, which one said was going to be named the Valley. But the first true opening announcement was in the April 4, 1953 Motion Picture Herald: “Carl Downing and A. C. Silver (sic) have opened their new Starlite drive-in, Rocky Ford, Colo.”
The date when Gibralter, a loose confederation of independent regional owners, bought the Starlite is still fuzzy, but Commonwealth bought it from Gibralter effective June 22, 1962, based on an article in the July 2, 1962 issue of Boxoffice.
The Starlite’s first appearance in the Theatre Catalog was the 1953-54 edition, capacity 400, owners Sever and Downing.
Starlite appearances in the Motion Picture Almanac’s drive-in lists:
A note in the July 17, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily mentioned that Donald Monson owned the Ute and Chief theaters in Rifle.
Based on a fragment of the June 15, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily, the Fox in Longmont was sold that month by Fox Intermountain Theatres “to Robert Smith of Denver, who formerly operated houses in Steamboat Springs and Oak Creek”.
Here’s what is probably another name for this theater in little Ouray, from the June 10, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “OURAY, Colo., June 9. – A. B. Hilliard, operator of the Chipeta Theatre here and the Nugget Theatre in Telluride, died of a heart attack while visiting in Denver.”
From the April 23, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “Fox Intermountain Theatres has closed the Egyptian Theatre, Delta, Colo., and is using the idle marquee to advertise the fact that the property is for sale.”
Mrs. Bert Lewis of the Peerless Theatre joined Allied Rocky Mountain Independent Theatres in early 1959, per a note in the April 2, 1959 Motion Picture Daily.
50sSnipes, I’m so glad that you’re contributing to the history of these drive-ins, but could you please reference your source(s)?
The Valley News of Lebanon NH ran a story yesterday that confirmed that the sign is part of the original White River marquee, that it’s still used to announce community events, and that it is about to be moved. The Vermont Department of Transportation will change the intersection to a roundabout. Hartford Town Manager Brannon Godfrey said the town is looking for another good location for it because “we know there is an interest in preserving that for its nostalgia and history with the town.”
From a fragment of the March 10, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “(missing) Nelson, manager of the Fox (Theat)re, Leadville, Colo., has pur(chased) the house from Fox Inter(mount)ain Theatres. He will operate it (as an?) individual and plans no change (in pol)icy.”
From a fragment of the March 10, 1959 issue of Motion Picture Daily: “(missing)rb Boehm has purchased from (missing) Roberts the Cover Theatre and (the?) Valley Drive-In, Fort Morgan, (Colo.)”
From the March 2, 1959 Motion Picture Daily: “WALSENBURG, Colo., March 1 – The Fox Theatre here, a unit of Fox Intermountain Theatres, has been sold by the circuit to Frank Piazza of this community. No change in house policy is planned.”
It appears that the Unique was renamed the West in the mid-1950s by Atlas Theatre Corp. In the theater circuit listings of the Motion Picture Almanac series, Atlas owned the Unique in 1955-56, then the West from 1957 through 1976. Both Atlas and the West were absent from the 1977 MPA.
On Page 77 of “Western State College: Mountain Mecca” by Duane Vandenbusche, there’s a photo of a group standing in front of the West marquee with a caption that refers to “Gunnison’s West Theatre”.
The Nor-West was still operating on May 31, 1996, when the Denver Post ran an article about the remaining active drive-ins in the area. Bill Holshue then owned the Nor-West and the 88 of Commerce City.