After advertising regularly in the 1950 and 1951 seasons, the Beach was absent from the Glenns Falls Post-Star in 1952-1955.
The 9L Beach Drive-In (re)opened in 1956. In later years, it added a hyphen, advertising as the 9-L Beach. Its final ad in the Post-Star was Tuesday, Aug. 8, 1961, showing “Gone With the Wind.”
Thanks to HistoricAerials, I know that in 1953, there was only one drive-in near the intersection of current-day West Point Loma Boulevard and Midway Boulevard. By 1964, there were two.
Boxoffice mentioned San Diego’s Midway as early as 1948. The Theatre Catalog had it in its 1952 edition: “Midway D. I., 3901 Midway Dr. Exec: Midway Entr. Inc., 4025 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hollywood. (535)”
Therefore, the Midway was not the larger drive-in a block southeast of the intersection; it was the drive-in immediately northwest. The modern-day address of the Denny’s that sits where the screen had been is 3920 West Dr.
In the revised second edition of “Drive-Ins of Route 66,” I passed along a revelation suggested by tireless Needles historians: The Sands operated for less than one season. Its final ad in the Needles Desert Star listed movies through Oct. 15, 1953. Its manager transferred to Oregon the following February. The Sands wasn’t mentioned in the Desert Star for years, even as the indoor theater in town, owned by the same company, continued to advertise.
The historians pointed out to me that Needles gets hot in the summer. Very, very hot. Maybe it wasn’t the best place for a drive-in.
The Del Mar site is within the Solana Beach city limits, according to Google Maps, which also notes that both the 514 Via De La Valle address and the 92075 Zip Code are assigned to Solana Beach.
Solana Beach didn’t incorporate until 1983, but AFAIK, CT style is to list a closed theater’s site by its current-day city name. So the Del Mar really shouldn’t be under Del Mar.
The Del Mar at the northwest corner of Via De La Valle and Valley Avenue was under construction as early as 1967 and opened in 1970.
Boxoffice, June 22, 1970: “ENCINITAS, CALIF. - The new Del Mar Drive-In held its grand opening Friday night, May 22 … Manager of the Del Mar Drive-In is Herb Burton … (who) has served nine years with Sero Amusement Co., owner of the ozoner”
Boxoffice, Nov. 20, 1972: “Patrons now have better access to Sero Amusement Co.’s Del Mar Drive-In with the opening of the 805 Freeway. The ozoner, built in 1970 by Sero, is located just west of Highway 5 at Via de la Valle Turnoff … Manager of the theatre is Herbert R. Burton, who … helped open the drive-in in 1970.”
The 1977 Motion Picture Almanac listed the Del Mar under Solana Beach, owned by Sero Amusement.
Although its fate had been sealed in development deals announced months earlier, the Del Mar advertised through at least June 1983, which matched its still-intact status in a 1983 aerial photo.
On the other hand, here’s someone who sort of agrees with davidcoppock:
North County Times, April 14, 2002: “One of the area’s most-forgotten drive-in theaters in the long-closed Del Mar Drive-In, which was in Solana Beach on Via de la Valle, across the street from the Del Mar Fairgrounds. "It was built in the early 1950s, recalled Don Terwilliger, former president of the Del Mar Historical Society. "It ran for 15 or 20 years.” "
Was there a nearby drive-in that these historians are misremembering?
To amplify LebowskiT1000’s note, HistoricAerials' 1967 photo of the site showed a drive-in under construction. It was intact through 1983, then razed in a 1984 photo.
The Shawnee advertised in the Kansas City Star as late as Aug. 25, 1978. (I’ll leave pinpointing the final ad to someone else.)
The end probably came on Sept. 5, 1978. The Star wrote, “Fire caused damage estimated at $65,000 today to the kitchen and storage area of the Shawnee Drive-in Theatre’s concessions stand … firemen were notified at 4:05 a.m. … reported by a man, believed to be a passer-by.”
But the screen was still standing on May 7, 1980, when the Star noted, “The Shawnee Drive-in Theater … will be torn down, and the city (Shawnee) is considering new zoning for the area.”
Boxoffice, May 26, 1951: “Clarence Martin has sold the Gem, Hugo, Colo., to Sam Feinstein. Martin then went to Denver where he bought the Alpine from Larry Sandler.”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1951: “LA GRANDE, ORE. - The community’s first airer, the La Grande Drive-In, opened May 1 under the partnership of W. J. Shell and A. V. Parker. The 400-car outdoorer cost an estimated $50,000.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 9, 1954: “LA GRANDE, ORE. – Parker and W. J. Shell, owners of the drive-in theatre, have sold it to Francis Greulich of La Grande and Ted Jones of Santa Monica, Calif. Greulich and Jones own the two La Grande theatres, the Liberty and the Granada.”
Here’s the best hint I could find on the opening date.
Motion Picture Daily, Aug. 6, 1948: “Mrs. Rose Chilypian and her son-in-law, Sarkes Arakelian, have a new drive-in, the Riverview, on the Haverhill-Lawrence, Mass., Boulevard, with accommodations for 500 cars, on Route 110.”
I found this at the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David A. Lowrance, which dates it as 1955 and says that it’s in the public domain.
I found this at the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David A. Lowrance, which says that it’s in the public domain.
The Mansfield News Journal wrote today that the former Sunset’s screen came down on April 11, 2023. Owner Joe Lykins said he tried to give the screen away for free, but there were no takers. “People are going to hate me,” he said, noting that he plans to use that spot as a retention pond. I saw no mention of whether Lykins plans to keep the Sunset sign, but it was still standing.
There are a couple of nice videos of the sad occasion on the News Journal site.
According to a recent drive-in history article in the Alpena News, in late 1970 a new owner started showing R- and X-rated films, later confiscated by the state police. The drive-in placed bright lights to prevent drivers from seeing the screen from US 23. The Alpena later added a go-kart track, then closed in 1985. The screen burned in 1989. The former drive-in “is now the site of the Arzo Sports and Fun Park recreation complex.”
By the way, the caption is wrong on at least one point. “Go for Broke!” was released in 1951, years after the Lemon Bowl opened. My guess is that it played as a season opener, and some researcher got a wire crossed.
One of the many great photos in the San Diego Reader’s 2008 roundup of every drive-in that had ever been around that city. The article is still available at the Reader site without photos, but you can see the original illustrated version at the Internet Archive.
Hector Frascadore may have run the Farmington for all of its life. His Hartford Courant obituary ran two days after he died on June 23, 1991. It said that Frascadore, a Bristol resident for most of his life, ran Hector’s Market there until he became co-owner and operator of the drive-in in 1951. He retained that position “until 1985 when he retired.” That matches the apparent closure date.
Looks like the Farmington opened in mid-July 1951.
Boxoffice’s roundup of new drive-ins in its Feb. 17, 1951, showed the Bristol under construction in Farmington, owner E. M. Loew, capacity 750 cars.
The Exhibitor wrote on June 13, 1951, “Opening of E. M. Loew’s Farmington Drive-In, now nearing completion, is slated for July 4.”
On July 14, 1951, Boxoffice wrote, “The Farmington Drive-In, an E. M. Loew enterprise, was set for opening by July 15.” The same day, Motion Picture Herald’s story was “E. M. Loew’s Theatres have opened the newly-constructed $200,000 Farmington drive-in, Farmington, Conn. Hector Frascadore, ex-acting manager, Hartford drive-in, Newington, Conn., is manager.” And in the July 18 issue of the Exhibitor, it wrote, “The $200,000 Farmington Drive-In, latest in the E. M. Loew Circuit, opened for business managed by Hector Frascadore, who formerly served as acting manager, Hartford Drive-In, Newington.”
Today I started digging into the history of the People’s Forest Drive-In, only to realize that it was (probably) the future Pleasant Valley.
Film Daily wrote on May 27, 1947 that the People’s Drive-In Theater Corp. had formed, Vincent W. Youmatz of Winsted, president.
The People’s Forest Drive-In, owned by Youmatz, was described as between Hartford and Winsted on US 44. On May 22, 1948, Boxoffice wrote that Youmatz would “reopen his People’s Forest” in a few weeks. One week later, it wrote that he had opened it.
The Exhibitor magazine wrote in August 1948 that Youmatz had made a deal with a Torrington radio station to give away People’s Forest tickets. In September, it wrote that the “Rogers Corner” drive-in had settled with neighbors objecting to the drive-in’s loudspeaker noise, agreeing to close on Oct. 16.
In February 1949, the Exhibitor wrote, “When the Rogers Corner Drive-In reopens, in-car speakers will be in use.” Billboard reported two months later that it had reopened.
In 1951, Youmatz shifted his focus, building the Sky-Vue in Torrington and moving there to manage it, although the People’s corporation still ran the Rogers Corner.
The 1950-51 Theatre Catalog listed the People’s Dr. under Winsted.
In August 1966, Motion Picture Exhibitor announced, “The People’s Drive-In is the new name for the Rogers' Corner Drive-In, Pleasant Valley”. And if the above note from the 2017-owner is to be believed, it switched back again to Rogers Corner in the 1970s.
Boxoffice, May 8, 1948: “Russ Tweedy has built a drive-in at Jerome, Ida.”
Boxoffice, May 22, 1948: “Jerome, Ida. — Russ Tweedy chose a spot in the center of this community to build a drive-in theatre. The area was fringed by homes and the screen tower was plainly visible from the windows. Fearful that the neighbors might protest his location, Tweedy decided to let them in on the act. He installed in-car speakers at their windows.”
The Sandhills is still open. It has posted its movies for May 2023 at its web site: https://sandhillsdrivein.com/
This theater has been renamed as the Erda Drive-In. Its new URL is https://www.erdadrivein.com/
After advertising regularly in the 1950 and 1951 seasons, the Beach was absent from the Glenns Falls Post-Star in 1952-1955.
The 9L Beach Drive-In (re)opened in 1956. In later years, it added a hyphen, advertising as the 9-L Beach. Its final ad in the Post-Star was Tuesday, Aug. 8, 1961, showing “Gone With the Wind.”
That school is Lake George Elementary. Its address, 69 Sun Valley Dr, is an excellent choice for the Beach’s address.
Thanks to HistoricAerials, I know that in 1953, there was only one drive-in near the intersection of current-day West Point Loma Boulevard and Midway Boulevard. By 1964, there were two.
Boxoffice mentioned San Diego’s Midway as early as 1948. The Theatre Catalog had it in its 1952 edition: “Midway D. I., 3901 Midway Dr. Exec: Midway Entr. Inc., 4025 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hollywood. (535)”
Therefore, the Midway was not the larger drive-in a block southeast of the intersection; it was the drive-in immediately northwest. The modern-day address of the Denny’s that sits where the screen had been is 3920 West Dr.
In the revised second edition of “Drive-Ins of Route 66,” I passed along a revelation suggested by tireless Needles historians: The Sands operated for less than one season. Its final ad in the Needles Desert Star listed movies through Oct. 15, 1953. Its manager transferred to Oregon the following February. The Sands wasn’t mentioned in the Desert Star for years, even as the indoor theater in town, owned by the same company, continued to advertise.
The historians pointed out to me that Needles gets hot in the summer. Very, very hot. Maybe it wasn’t the best place for a drive-in.
The exact address of the interesting complex on the old Sunset site is 22474 Co Rd 100A, Woodland, CA 95776.
The Del Mar site is within the Solana Beach city limits, according to Google Maps, which also notes that both the 514 Via De La Valle address and the 92075 Zip Code are assigned to Solana Beach.
Solana Beach didn’t incorporate until 1983, but AFAIK, CT style is to list a closed theater’s site by its current-day city name. So the Del Mar really shouldn’t be under Del Mar.
The Del Mar at the northwest corner of Via De La Valle and Valley Avenue was under construction as early as 1967 and opened in 1970.
Boxoffice, June 22, 1970: “ENCINITAS, CALIF. - The new Del Mar Drive-In held its grand opening Friday night, May 22 … Manager of the Del Mar Drive-In is Herb Burton … (who) has served nine years with Sero Amusement Co., owner of the ozoner”
Boxoffice, Nov. 20, 1972: “Patrons now have better access to Sero Amusement Co.’s Del Mar Drive-In with the opening of the 805 Freeway. The ozoner, built in 1970 by Sero, is located just west of Highway 5 at Via de la Valle Turnoff … Manager of the theatre is Herbert R. Burton, who … helped open the drive-in in 1970.”
The 1977 Motion Picture Almanac listed the Del Mar under Solana Beach, owned by Sero Amusement.
Although its fate had been sealed in development deals announced months earlier, the Del Mar advertised through at least June 1983, which matched its still-intact status in a 1983 aerial photo.
On the other hand, here’s someone who sort of agrees with davidcoppock:
North County Times, April 14, 2002: “One of the area’s most-forgotten drive-in theaters in the long-closed Del Mar Drive-In, which was in Solana Beach on Via de la Valle, across the street from the Del Mar Fairgrounds. "It was built in the early 1950s, recalled Don Terwilliger, former president of the Del Mar Historical Society. "It ran for 15 or 20 years.” "
Was there a nearby drive-in that these historians are misremembering?
To amplify LebowskiT1000’s note, HistoricAerials' 1967 photo of the site showed a drive-in under construction. It was intact through 1983, then razed in a 1984 photo.
The Shawnee advertised in the Kansas City Star as late as Aug. 25, 1978. (I’ll leave pinpointing the final ad to someone else.)
The end probably came on Sept. 5, 1978. The Star wrote, “Fire caused damage estimated at $65,000 today to the kitchen and storage area of the Shawnee Drive-in Theatre’s concessions stand … firemen were notified at 4:05 a.m. … reported by a man, believed to be a passer-by.”
But the screen was still standing on May 7, 1980, when the Star noted, “The Shawnee Drive-in Theater … will be torn down, and the city (Shawnee) is considering new zoning for the area.”
Boxoffice, May 26, 1951: “Clarence Martin has sold the Gem, Hugo, Colo., to Sam Feinstein. Martin then went to Denver where he bought the Alpine from Larry Sandler.”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1951: “LA GRANDE, ORE. - The community’s first airer, the La Grande Drive-In, opened May 1 under the partnership of W. J. Shell and A. V. Parker. The 400-car outdoorer cost an estimated $50,000.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 9, 1954: “LA GRANDE, ORE. – Parker and W. J. Shell, owners of the drive-in theatre, have sold it to Francis Greulich of La Grande and Ted Jones of Santa Monica, Calif. Greulich and Jones own the two La Grande theatres, the Liberty and the Granada.”
Here’s the best hint I could find on the opening date.
Motion Picture Daily, Aug. 6, 1948: “Mrs. Rose Chilypian and her son-in-law, Sarkes Arakelian, have a new drive-in, the Riverview, on the Haverhill-Lawrence, Mass., Boulevard, with accommodations for 500 cars, on Route 110.”
I found this at the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David A. Lowrance, which dates it as 1955 and says that it’s in the public domain.
I found this at the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David A. Lowrance, which says that it’s in the public domain.
The Mansfield News Journal wrote today that the former Sunset’s screen came down on April 11, 2023. Owner Joe Lykins said he tried to give the screen away for free, but there were no takers. “People are going to hate me,” he said, noting that he plans to use that spot as a retention pond. I saw no mention of whether Lykins plans to keep the Sunset sign, but it was still standing.
There are a couple of nice videos of the sad occasion on the News Journal site.
According to a recent drive-in history article in the Alpena News, in late 1970 a new owner started showing R- and X-rated films, later confiscated by the state police. The drive-in placed bright lights to prevent drivers from seeing the screen from US 23. The Alpena later added a go-kart track, then closed in 1985. The screen burned in 1989. The former drive-in “is now the site of the Arzo Sports and Fun Park recreation complex.”
That photo, and that exact caption, appeared in the 2010 book Lemon Grove (Images of America) by Helen M. Ofield and Pete Smith.
By the way, the caption is wrong on at least one point. “Go for Broke!” was released in 1951, years after the Lemon Bowl opened. My guess is that it played as a season opener, and some researcher got a wire crossed.
One of the many great photos in the San Diego Reader’s 2008 roundup of every drive-in that had ever been around that city. The article is still available at the Reader site without photos, but you can see the original illustrated version at the Internet Archive.
Hector Frascadore may have run the Farmington for all of its life. His Hartford Courant obituary ran two days after he died on June 23, 1991. It said that Frascadore, a Bristol resident for most of his life, ran Hector’s Market there until he became co-owner and operator of the drive-in in 1951. He retained that position “until 1985 when he retired.” That matches the apparent closure date.
Looks like the Farmington opened in mid-July 1951.
Boxoffice’s roundup of new drive-ins in its Feb. 17, 1951, showed the Bristol under construction in Farmington, owner E. M. Loew, capacity 750 cars.
The Exhibitor wrote on June 13, 1951, “Opening of E. M. Loew’s Farmington Drive-In, now nearing completion, is slated for July 4.” On July 14, 1951, Boxoffice wrote, “The Farmington Drive-In, an E. M. Loew enterprise, was set for opening by July 15.” The same day, Motion Picture Herald’s story was “E. M. Loew’s Theatres have opened the newly-constructed $200,000 Farmington drive-in, Farmington, Conn. Hector Frascadore, ex-acting manager, Hartford drive-in, Newington, Conn., is manager.” And in the July 18 issue of the Exhibitor, it wrote, “The $200,000 Farmington Drive-In, latest in the E. M. Loew Circuit, opened for business managed by Hector Frascadore, who formerly served as acting manager, Hartford Drive-In, Newington.”
Today I started digging into the history of the People’s Forest Drive-In, only to realize that it was (probably) the future Pleasant Valley.
Film Daily wrote on May 27, 1947 that the People’s Drive-In Theater Corp. had formed, Vincent W. Youmatz of Winsted, president.
The People’s Forest Drive-In, owned by Youmatz, was described as between Hartford and Winsted on US 44. On May 22, 1948, Boxoffice wrote that Youmatz would “reopen his People’s Forest” in a few weeks. One week later, it wrote that he had opened it.
The Exhibitor magazine wrote in August 1948 that Youmatz had made a deal with a Torrington radio station to give away People’s Forest tickets. In September, it wrote that the “Rogers Corner” drive-in had settled with neighbors objecting to the drive-in’s loudspeaker noise, agreeing to close on Oct. 16.
In February 1949, the Exhibitor wrote, “When the Rogers Corner Drive-In reopens, in-car speakers will be in use.” Billboard reported two months later that it had reopened.
In 1951, Youmatz shifted his focus, building the Sky-Vue in Torrington and moving there to manage it, although the People’s corporation still ran the Rogers Corner.
The 1950-51 Theatre Catalog listed the People’s Dr. under Winsted.
In August 1966, Motion Picture Exhibitor announced, “The People’s Drive-In is the new name for the Rogers' Corner Drive-In, Pleasant Valley”. And if the above note from the 2017-owner is to be believed, it switched back again to Rogers Corner in the 1970s.
Boxoffice, May 8, 1948: “Russ Tweedy has built a drive-in at Jerome, Ida.”
Boxoffice, May 22, 1948: “Jerome, Ida. — Russ Tweedy chose a spot in the center of this community to build a drive-in theatre. The area was fringed by homes and the screen tower was plainly visible from the windows. Fearful that the neighbors might protest his location, Tweedy decided to let them in on the act. He installed in-car speakers at their windows.”