Confirming gregsalo’s note with a few bonus names.
Boxoffice, July 6, 1964: “Shelton, Wash. - Mason County’s first drive-in theatre was opened recently five miles south of town on the Olympia highway. The 354-car airer, built on a 16-acre tract, is a project of Fred Thibodeau and Fred Henry, who are painters by day in the Bremerton Navy shipyard and exhibitors at night and on weekends, operating several theatres.”
Although details are maddeningly scarce, MyPrinceGeorgeNow.com reported in February that the Park had been sold. This week, the site added that the drive-in’s first weekend under the new ownership will start May 19.
Sad news. The owner of the Starlight, who was still posting movie information notes on its Facebook page May 8, died suddenly on May 10. According to his obituary, Dan Myers, 72, had operated the Starlight Drive-In since 1988.
Elaine Myers posted to Facebook the next day, “We are sorry to announce that the Starlight Drive-In Rt.127 119 will not be open this season.” It had been scheduled to open May 26.
As I type, the 19’s web site says that it’s “Closed for the 2022 season”. From what I’ve seen, the drive-in is ready to reopen any time someone wants to flip a switch, but if no one’s flipping, it might be time to call it closed, for now.
It’s alive! The Rock ‘N’ Roll Drive-In hosted its third annual Community Appreciation Night yesterday, per KFVS. I can’t quite tell whether it reopened in late 2020, but it was definitely open by the spring of 2021.
I am saddened by the lack of historical curiosity, or maybe it’s fact-checking, or maybe it’s just pedantry, in some of today’s newsrooms. It took me one minute at Newspapers.com to find that the Rose City was still active in September 1985. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote on Sept. 29 that the drive-in was showing “Volunteers” and “Heaven Help Us.” That would explain why a 1985 aerial photo showed the Rose City still intact.
That was the most recent note I could find. I’ll leave discovery of the exact final date to someone with more time to search for it. ;)
Amplifying and updating Drive-In 54’s note, WROC reported yesterday that Paul Cole is investing $500,000 to rebuild the Rose City. “Right now, Cole plans to have a soft launch in the fall, and have an official opening next April.”
Parsons Sun, June 5, 1965: “Mr. and Mrs. Ed Martin, owners of the Cherokee Drive-In Theater, leased the Columbus Drive-In Theater from Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Pugh. They will operate both theaters.”
Mitchell’s Daily Republic, via Yahoo News, said this week that the Starlite was closing again for “not meeting expenses.” The article said the announcement came on the Starlite’s “social media page” (Facebook?), which said that attendance had dropped the last two seasons.
The East County Magazine reported today that the Santee Drive-In is in escrow to a developer from Los Angeles. That developer has filed an application with the city to build a large industrial building on the site.
Michael Coyne, Santee’s principal planner, said the drive-in’s owners are laying low. “They don’t want to answer questions about the closing of the drive-in theater.” He also said that because of documentation and necessary reports, the project wouldn’t go to the city council for approval for at least six months.
Boxoffice, July 23, 1962: “Jim Travis of Milford had reason to be happy on his visit to (Omaha) Filmrow. He said severe winds, which swept the Lake Okoboji area, sank boats and rolled up docks, spared his Lakeland Drive-In four miles south of Spirit Lake. “I could see the screen tower waving from 10 to 15 inches but it weathered the storm,” Jim said”
Des Moines Register, June 5, 1949: “Spirit Lake, Ia. - Construction is well under way on the Spirit drive-in theater at the intersection of Highways 9 and 71. March Brothers, owners of the Royal theater here and the Uptown at Arnolds Park, are building the theater. It will accommodate 400 cars.”
Estherville (IA) Daily News, Oct. 11, 1949: “‘Gone With The Wind’ was more than the title of the feature attraction at the Spirit Lake drive-in yesterday. It was also the fate of a section of the fence which was taken up by the wind storm and dripped on the attendance grounds. No other damage was reported. ‘Gone With The Wind’ was scheduled there for today and tomorrow.”
March Theatres probably owned the Spirit for its whole life, definitely through 1976.
Boxoffice, Sept. 6, 1976: “Wayne, Neb. - Jay Kohl, associated with locally based March Theatres for the past five years, has been named manager of the circuit’s Royal Theatre and Spirit Drive-In at Spirit Lake, Iowa.”
The Livingston Drive-In ran an “Opening Soon” ad in the March 26, 1953 issue of the weekly Madison (NJ) Eagle. The following week, the drive-in’s ad said “Open Friday April 3”. Its first scheduled double feature was “Taxi” with Dan Dailey and “Prince of Pirates” with John Derek.
The Livingston Drive-In, then operated by General Cinema Theatres, held its last show on Monday, Sept. 8, 1980. The double feature was “Used Cars” with Kurt Russell and “The Hollywood Knights” with Robert Wuhl. The following day, its ad in the Daily Record of Northwest NJ said, “To our patrons - thanks for a / great summer. The Livingston Drive-In / in (typo) will be closed for the season.” The drive-in did not return to General Cinema’s 1981 ads.
As suggested by the ad uploaded last year by dallasmovietheaters, this place advertised as the Baxter Springs Drive-In for at least 1964-65 in Pitcher OK’s Tri-State Tribune.
A 1994 aerial photo showed a vacant lot, so the Halston did not grow out of either of Kamloops' previous drive-ins. It was built between then and 1999.
You’re right, Kenmore. A 2017 aerial showed the site intact, though a 2020 aerial showed a gutted building. So SearchN was wrong about the date, or the place got fixed, or something. Y'know, when I quote a source, it doesn’t mean I endorse it. ;)
Waymarking user SearchN posted a note in 2014 that said the Halston was open only briefly in the 1990s. “In April 2014, a pair of suspicious fires destroyed the ticket hut near the entrance and damaged the former concession building, which also housed the projection booth and washrooms.”
Per Boxoffice clippings, there were at least two drive-ins around Kamloops in the 1950s. Did one of them become the Halston?
Inland Industries, Ltd., headed by Ian Clark, built the Skyway in 1950. Stan Creech had acquired it by 1953, the year he built a walk-in section for the Skyway. Creech sold the drive-in to Odeon in early 1962.
George Lane and Sucha Singh were apparently the guys who built the Sundown in Kamloops in the early 1950s, “displacing an apple orchard which was well out in the country east of the main residential area.” Odeon took over the Sundown in 1966, then sold it just before the 1973 season.
After the Sunset was closed for all of 2022, on March 5, 2023, it posted to Facebook: “This is a bittersweet moment for our family. However it is time for dad to retire and enjoy life. If anyone is truly interested please email at ”
On one hand, someone updated the Sunset’s web page, now http://sunsetdrive-in.com/, to say that it’s “closed for the 2023 season.” On the other hand, it’s still closed.
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.”
Confirming gregsalo’s note with a few bonus names.
Boxoffice, July 6, 1964: “Shelton, Wash. - Mason County’s first drive-in theatre was opened recently five miles south of town on the Olympia highway. The 354-car airer, built on a 16-acre tract, is a project of Fred Thibodeau and Fred Henry, who are painters by day in the Bremerton Navy shipyard and exhibitors at night and on weekends, operating several theatres.”
Although details are maddeningly scarce, MyPrinceGeorgeNow.com reported in February that the Park had been sold. This week, the site added that the drive-in’s first weekend under the new ownership will start May 19.
Sad news. The owner of the Starlight, who was still posting movie information notes on its Facebook page May 8, died suddenly on May 10. According to his obituary, Dan Myers, 72, had operated the Starlight Drive-In since 1988.
Elaine Myers posted to Facebook the next day, “We are sorry to announce that the Starlight Drive-In Rt.127 119 will not be open this season.” It had been scheduled to open May 26.
As I type, the 19’s web site says that it’s “Closed for the 2022 season”. From what I’ve seen, the drive-in is ready to reopen any time someone wants to flip a switch, but if no one’s flipping, it might be time to call it closed, for now.
It’s alive! The Rock ‘N’ Roll Drive-In hosted its third annual Community Appreciation Night yesterday, per KFVS. I can’t quite tell whether it reopened in late 2020, but it was definitely open by the spring of 2021.
I am saddened by the lack of historical curiosity, or maybe it’s fact-checking, or maybe it’s just pedantry, in some of today’s newsrooms. It took me one minute at Newspapers.com to find that the Rose City was still active in September 1985. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote on Sept. 29 that the drive-in was showing “Volunteers” and “Heaven Help Us.” That would explain why a 1985 aerial photo showed the Rose City still intact.
That was the most recent note I could find. I’ll leave discovery of the exact final date to someone with more time to search for it. ;)
Amplifying and updating Drive-In 54’s note, WROC reported yesterday that Paul Cole is investing $500,000 to rebuild the Rose City. “Right now, Cole plans to have a soft launch in the fall, and have an official opening next April.”
There’s also a YouTube video of the report.
(And BTW, that Drive-In 54 note is a verbatim account of an April 25 story in the Finger Lake Times.)
Parsons Sun, June 5, 1965: “Mr. and Mrs. Ed Martin, owners of the Cherokee Drive-In Theater, leased the Columbus Drive-In Theater from Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Pugh. They will operate both theaters.”
Boxoffice, May 31, 1976: “The Seven Drive-In, Eldorado (sic), Ark., and the Mini Theatre, Russellville, Ark., have closed.”
Mitchell’s Daily Republic, via Yahoo News, said this week that the Starlite was closing again for “not meeting expenses.” The article said the announcement came on the Starlite’s “social media page” (Facebook?), which said that attendance had dropped the last two seasons.
The East County Magazine reported today that the Santee Drive-In is in escrow to a developer from Los Angeles. That developer has filed an application with the city to build a large industrial building on the site.
Michael Coyne, Santee’s principal planner, said the drive-in’s owners are laying low. “They don’t want to answer questions about the closing of the drive-in theater.” He also said that because of documentation and necessary reports, the project wouldn’t go to the city council for approval for at least six months.
Boxoffice, July 23, 1962: “Jim Travis of Milford had reason to be happy on his visit to (Omaha) Filmrow. He said severe winds, which swept the Lake Okoboji area, sank boats and rolled up docks, spared his Lakeland Drive-In four miles south of Spirit Lake. “I could see the screen tower waving from 10 to 15 inches but it weathered the storm,” Jim said”
The Spirit opened in 1949.
Des Moines Register, June 5, 1949: “Spirit Lake, Ia. - Construction is well under way on the Spirit drive-in theater at the intersection of Highways 9 and 71. March Brothers, owners of the Royal theater here and the Uptown at Arnolds Park, are building the theater. It will accommodate 400 cars.”
Estherville (IA) Daily News, Oct. 11, 1949: “‘Gone With The Wind’ was more than the title of the feature attraction at the Spirit Lake drive-in yesterday. It was also the fate of a section of the fence which was taken up by the wind storm and dripped on the attendance grounds. No other damage was reported. ‘Gone With The Wind’ was scheduled there for today and tomorrow.”
March Theatres probably owned the Spirit for its whole life, definitely through 1976.
Boxoffice, Sept. 6, 1976: “Wayne, Neb. - Jay Kohl, associated with locally based March Theatres for the past five years, has been named manager of the circuit’s Royal Theatre and Spirit Drive-In at Spirit Lake, Iowa.”
The Livingston Drive-In ran an “Opening Soon” ad in the March 26, 1953 issue of the weekly Madison (NJ) Eagle. The following week, the drive-in’s ad said “Open Friday April 3”. Its first scheduled double feature was “Taxi” with Dan Dailey and “Prince of Pirates” with John Derek.
The Livingston Drive-In, then operated by General Cinema Theatres, held its last show on Monday, Sept. 8, 1980. The double feature was “Used Cars” with Kurt Russell and “The Hollywood Knights” with Robert Wuhl. The following day, its ad in the Daily Record of Northwest NJ said, “To our patrons - thanks for a / great summer. The Livingston Drive-In / in (typo) will be closed for the season.” The drive-in did not return to General Cinema’s 1981 ads.
Belated thanks for that note, Kenmore. I understand much better now.
And hey! Newspapers.com finally digitized the 1953 News-Record. As I mentioned earlier, the cast in the ad doesn’t match the movie.
As suggested by the ad uploaded last year by dallasmovietheaters, this place advertised as the Baxter Springs Drive-In for at least 1964-65 in Pitcher OK’s Tri-State Tribune.
A 1994 aerial photo showed a vacant lot, so the Halston did not grow out of either of Kamloops' previous drive-ins. It was built between then and 1999.
You’re right, Kenmore. A 2017 aerial showed the site intact, though a 2020 aerial showed a gutted building. So SearchN was wrong about the date, or the place got fixed, or something. Y'know, when I quote a source, it doesn’t mean I endorse it. ;)
Waymarking user SearchN posted a note in 2014 that said the Halston was open only briefly in the 1990s. “In April 2014, a pair of suspicious fires destroyed the ticket hut near the entrance and damaged the former concession building, which also housed the projection booth and washrooms.”
Per Boxoffice clippings, there were at least two drive-ins around Kamloops in the 1950s. Did one of them become the Halston?
Inland Industries, Ltd., headed by Ian Clark, built the Skyway in 1950. Stan Creech had acquired it by 1953, the year he built a walk-in section for the Skyway. Creech sold the drive-in to Odeon in early 1962.
George Lane and Sucha Singh were apparently the guys who built the Sundown in Kamloops in the early 1950s, “displacing an apple orchard which was well out in the country east of the main residential area.” Odeon took over the Sundown in 1966, then sold it just before the 1973 season.
After the Sunset was closed for all of 2022, on March 5, 2023, it posted to Facebook: “This is a bittersweet moment for our family. However it is time for dad to retire and enjoy life. If anyone is truly interested please email at ”
On one hand, someone updated the Sunset’s web page, now http://sunsetdrive-in.com/, to say that it’s “closed for the 2023 season.” On the other hand, it’s still closed.
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.