Per Kawartha Now, the Havelock is permanently closed. On March 25, 2019, owner Gordon Henderson announced he had sold the place and the drive-in would not reopen.
On its Facebook page, a May 23, 2018 post read: “As of June 1st, 2018, the Hilltop Drive In will be under new ownership. More details will follow when available.” As of this writing, that’s the most recent post on that page. Is it still open?
The Bridgton folks wrote April 20 on their Facebook page that “this will be our 20th season (19 full seasons) with the second screen. Its maiden showing was Friday July 7th, 2000 with CHICKEN RUN and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2.”
The drive-in reopened as the Twilight 280 in October 2016. It showed Christmas movies that December, which is the latest info I can find, so it’s probably closed again.
From the Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 6, 1951: Donald Gilson, operator of drive-ins at Canton and Massena, has acquired the Thousand Island drive-in and the Bay theatre, Alexandria Bay, from Mrs. Antoinette McNamara.
From the Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 6, 1951: Wren Theatres, Mena, Ark., has purchased the Mena Drive-in from Gordon Longacre and C. C. Cowden, the company announced this week. The circuit also owns two conventional theatres in Mena, the Lyric and the Lil, purchased last year from L. E. Gwaltney.
The July 11, 1987 Albuquerque Journal had an ad “Always $5 per car load” for the Northside Drive-In at “2nd & Montano”, which is the closest intersection to the former Star. English-language movies this time.
Someone should mention that the photo is from Kerry Segrave’s fine book Drive-In Theaters, published in 1992. He included the photo in a section noting how few drive-ins were multiplexed in the 1960s and 70s, which seems ironic since Amarillo’s Twin was one of the tiny percentage of 1950s-era drive-ins with two screens.
Aerial photos indicate that the Bel-Air wasn’t there in 1946, was active through at least 1952-74, and was gone by 1988. (Although a 1988 topo map still showed its outline, so I guess those aren’t perfect either.)
The original 66 (not Route 66) Drive-In first appeared in the Motion Picture Almanacs in the 1953-54 edition and persisted through the final MPA drive-in list in 1988, always owned by Kerasotes.
It wasn’t present in a 1946 aerial photo of the site, and a 1993 photo showed it in the midst of getting converted to buildings.
An even better address is 101 Grande Dr, since the drive-in was at the corner of the Service Road and present-day Grande Drive.
What was that building that jutted into its viewing arc on the northeast side? It looks like a motor court, which would have given a third of its tenants a view of the screen.
I just uploaded an aerial photo from 1995. It’s a little grainy, but you can still see the screen (not an autoscope), projector hut and ramps. As Kenmore noted, the ramps are still faintly visible today.
Since it’s such a great history article, and since newspaper links tend to turn obsolete after a few years, I added the page that David Zornig posted (thanks!) to the Internet Archive.
According to the Answer Man, a May 18, 1969, story in the Springfield Leader and Press said the Holiday “would have two screens, one for 490 cars and the other for 509. That didn’t happen. It ended up with one screen for 529 cars.”
I agree that 737 is a much better choice for marking the entrance. My guess about its historic address: The West occupied everything between 6th and 8th avenues. Since it could choose its address anywhere in-between, it wanted an association with the better-known artery of 6th Avenue rather than 8th, a simple side street.
I was there this morning, and the driveway from the 6th Avenue outer road is as well-preserved as the Kipling driveway, but old aerial photos show that when the West began, its only connections were to Kipling. The outer road driveway was apparently added in the 1980s or 1990s.
The Signal of Santa Clarita reminisced today, noting that Yellow Submarine opened at the Mustang on April 14, 1969. The author pointedly wrote that the drive-in was in the neighborhood known as Honby.
Which sent me to Google Maps, which tells me that Saugus is also a neighborhood, one of four communities that merged in 1987 to create the city of Santa Clarita. At any rate, the Mustang’s address is now clearly within Santa Clarita, so the CT address should be adjusted accordingly and Saugus should be removed from the CA city list.
Perhaps this was a promo image, but note that it’s just a doctored photo of the 66 Drive-In in Carthage, MO.
Per Kawartha Now, the Havelock is permanently closed. On March 25, 2019, owner Gordon Henderson announced he had sold the place and the drive-in would not reopen.
On its Facebook page, a May 23, 2018 post read: “As of June 1st, 2018, the Hilltop Drive In will be under new ownership. More details will follow when available.” As of this writing, that’s the most recent post on that page. Is it still open?
The Bridgton folks wrote April 20 on their Facebook page that “this will be our 20th season (19 full seasons) with the second screen. Its maiden showing was Friday July 7th, 2000 with CHICKEN RUN and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2.”
The drive-in reopened as the Twilight 280 in October 2016. It showed Christmas movies that December, which is the latest info I can find, so it’s probably closed again.
From the Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 6, 1951: Don Waters … will manage the Starlight drive-in, a unit of the Waters Theatres.
From the Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 6, 1951: Donald Gilson, operator of drive-ins at Canton and Massena, has acquired the Thousand Island drive-in and the Bay theatre, Alexandria Bay, from Mrs. Antoinette McNamara.
From the Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 6, 1951: Wren Theatres, Mena, Ark., has purchased the Mena Drive-in from Gordon Longacre and C. C. Cowden, the company announced this week. The circuit also owns two conventional theatres in Mena, the Lyric and the Lil, purchased last year from L. E. Gwaltney.
A USGS aerial taken Jan. 31, 1954 shows the screen up and in the right place but no projection booth or ramps. Maybe it was under construction then?
An aerial photo taken Sept. 20, 1967 shows the mobile home park already fully developed. The Circle Autoscope didn’t last long at all!
That’s what’s left of the Duke City a couple of blocks south of the Circle Autoscope.
The July 11, 1987 Albuquerque Journal had an ad “Always $5 per car load” for the Northside Drive-In at “2nd & Montano”, which is the closest intersection to the former Star. English-language movies this time.
An ad in the July 11, 1981 Albuquerque Journal showed the Sunset under the Commonwealth banner showing a Spanish-language film.
Journal ads for the Sunset in 1987 and 1988, not under Commonwealth, listed English-language movies. I couldn’t find any similar ads in 1989.
Motion Picture Almanac drive-in list summary for the Sunset:
The Albuquerque Journal ran ads for Spanish-language films showing at the Linda Vista Drive-In at the Star’s old address in 1981-1983 (at least).
Someone should mention that the photo is from Kerry Segrave’s fine book Drive-In Theaters, published in 1992. He included the photo in a section noting how few drive-ins were multiplexed in the 1960s and 70s, which seems ironic since Amarillo’s Twin was one of the tiny percentage of 1950s-era drive-ins with two screens.
This is a photo of the single-screen 66 Drive-In on 6th Street, not the Green Meadows / Route 66 twin.
This is a photo of the single-screen 66 Drive-In on 6th Street, not the Green Meadows / Route 66 twin.
Aerial photos indicate that the Bel-Air wasn’t there in 1946, was active through at least 1952-74, and was gone by 1988. (Although a 1988 topo map still showed its outline, so I guess those aren’t perfect either.)
The original 66 (not Route 66) Drive-In first appeared in the Motion Picture Almanacs in the 1953-54 edition and persisted through the final MPA drive-in list in 1988, always owned by Kerasotes.
It wasn’t present in a 1946 aerial photo of the site, and a 1993 photo showed it in the midst of getting converted to buildings.
The concrete bases of the screen supports appear to still be there in a December 2016 Google Street View.
Also, the Sunset’s outline was still shown on a 2002 topo map.
An even better address is 101 Grande Dr, since the drive-in was at the corner of the Service Road and present-day Grande Drive.
What was that building that jutted into its viewing arc on the northeast side? It looks like a motor court, which would have given a third of its tenants a view of the screen.
I just uploaded an aerial photo from 1995. It’s a little grainy, but you can still see the screen (not an autoscope), projector hut and ramps. As Kenmore noted, the ramps are still faintly visible today.
Since it’s such a great history article, and since newspaper links tend to turn obsolete after a few years, I added the page that David Zornig posted (thanks!) to the Internet Archive.
According to the Answer Man, a May 18, 1969, story in the Springfield Leader and Press said the Holiday “would have two screens, one for 490 cars and the other for 509. That didn’t happen. It ended up with one screen for 529 cars.”
I agree that 737 is a much better choice for marking the entrance. My guess about its historic address: The West occupied everything between 6th and 8th avenues. Since it could choose its address anywhere in-between, it wanted an association with the better-known artery of 6th Avenue rather than 8th, a simple side street.
I was there this morning, and the driveway from the 6th Avenue outer road is as well-preserved as the Kipling driveway, but old aerial photos show that when the West began, its only connections were to Kipling. The outer road driveway was apparently added in the 1980s or 1990s.
The Signal of Santa Clarita reminisced today, noting that Yellow Submarine opened at the Mustang on April 14, 1969. The author pointedly wrote that the drive-in was in the neighborhood known as Honby.
Which sent me to Google Maps, which tells me that Saugus is also a neighborhood, one of four communities that merged in 1987 to create the city of Santa Clarita. At any rate, the Mustang’s address is now clearly within Santa Clarita, so the CT address should be adjusted accordingly and Saugus should be removed from the CA city list.