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Century's 110-Drive-In
288 Broadhollow Road,
Melville,
NY
11747
288 Broadhollow Road,
Melville,
NY
11747
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correction: My 1960’s Newsdays listed Route 110 under “Huntington” I should say
Just check my old Newsdays and I’m puzzled: 1) Newsday listed the Route 110 drive in as “Huntington” .It’s listed in the same column with …“York”….“Whitman”…..etc. And of course we all know it’s Melville; but moreover ; in this JULY 1976 edition of Newsday; NO Route 110 listed! It’s traditional for a drive in to close at “the end of the season”, naturally. I could have sworn it was still open in ‘76! Let me get back to my paper pile ………….
And past it’s closing it was the site of some really big Flea Markets each Sunday. I was local and just called it the 110 Drive-In. In that immediate area were also the Massapequa, Hempstead Tpke (in Bethpage/Plainedge) and Johnny All Weather in Copiague.
Locals (I live near Huntington) refer to this as the “Huntington Route 110 Drive In”.
CORRECTION: THIS theater did NOT CLOSE in the 80s! Last year of business was the end of the 1976 season or the 1977 season at the latest. I have tons of old newspapers—especially when Elvis died in ‘77-so I will check . The marque remained standing till 1979-as memory serves me . I so wish there were some photos but this well-loved drive in but it has been an elusive phantom. I remember the marque was on an angle right in front with the booths to the right-fairly close to the road. There was a mini kids chair-o-plane as well as the train ride. I believe the same type of train ride is featured in the last Abott & Costello movie “Dance with Me , Henry” (late 50s?). I think the snack bar was the size and shape of the Westbury Drive In snack bar (again, I’m going on my memory). Historical Societies ? Fooey! When most of them were established , they did not consider the 1950s and 1960s old enough—especially if they were formed in the 1950s or 1960s. LOL.
Joe Vogel…I have to agree with you about the 110 opening date. I remember going there with my folks about when I was 10 years old and that would have been 1957.We went after a day at Sunken Meadow and my brother and I enjoyed the rides before the movie.We would usually be asleep by the end of the movie in the back seat.
Now if we only had a ground view showing the pylon.
Here is an aerial view circa 1980:
http://tinyurl.com/ydu8dsv
As the projectors had probably been installed before the February 2 Ashcraft ad was published, 1956 does seem a likely year for the drive-in to have opened.
I’ll buy 288 but the number for the original Walt Whitman Road inaccuracy was in the thousands.
Lost Memory. There is also a problem with the address itself, not only the road. I was in the Melville area tonight and the building next to what used to be the Drive In was 200. As one travels north the numbers get even smaller (along with my theory about the Northern State, or maybe even Old Country Road being the divider between the Broadhollow and Walt Whitman designation). The theatre should only be about 300 or so.
The 110-Drive-In must have opened in 1957, not 1959. An ad for Ashcraft’s Super Cinex projectors appeared in the February 2 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year, saying that these projectors had been installed at the Century 110 Drive-In.
It was certainly open by September of 1957, as the September 7 issue of Boxoffice carried an item about a promotion at the theater which involved giving away 6,000 barbecued beef sandwiches over a four day period.
The October 19, 1957, issue of Boxoffice ran an article about drive-in concession stands which featured several paragraphs about the operation at the 110 Drive-In, with two photos of its concession area.
Looking at local maps one sees that as you travel north on 110 it goes from being Broadhollow to Walt Whitman. Since the map was not conclusive in showing a line of demarcation I checked the phone book listing for the Dunkin Donuts which is located at Old Country Road about one third of a mile north of the theatre. Broadhollow. The address of Waldbaums about a half mile up is Walt Whitman. My guess is that the Northern State Parkway is the line of demarcation. All of which confirms the theatre address should be Broadhollow Road.
Yes it was. On the west side of the road just north of the LIE north service road. The capacity was 2,500 cars making it one of the largest, if not the largest on Long Island. It was Century’s only Drive In. The Sunrise in Valley Stream was Redstone all the rest were Prudential.
I also remember one time they were resurfacing the screen. It was a windy day and whatever they used for the job was blowing onto traffice, including my car, on 100, aka Broadhollow Road.
I remember the flea markets they used to hold there.
And don’t forget the fabulous flea market every sunday that had traffic backed up on 110
In 1968, I attempted to see a great double feature; Bullitt staring Steve McQueen and Countdown staring James Caan and Robert Duvall 3 different times but never did see either movie until years later. Enjoyed the submarine races all 3 times. From that time on, I would never go to the drivein if something was playing that I wanted to see….only movies I had already seen!
I love stories like that, hkbf232. Was that in 1964/65?! Also, do you remember the second feature? I’m trying to put together a list of Route 110 showings……..
I went to this drive in with my sisters and their boyfriends at the time. We saw “Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte” which scared the crap out of me. At the pivotal scene in the film where the clock strikes, all of us jumped at the same time and the whole car rocked! After seeing this film I taught myself to sleep with my hands under my pillow so that they could not be chopped off! My Mother, who never forbade us to do much of anything, forbade my sisters to ever take me to another scarey film, as I always took films so much to heart…still do.
you now have to scroll down for my posts about the Route 110 Drive In and Flea Market OR search the list for the post. Sorry about that! Meanwhile-let’s work on getting a damn picture of the place!
a GREAT route 110 Drive In ad..(sorry the print is so small!)1972:
View link
Oops…mistake above..I was trying to upload a 110 Ad..
View link
Wow! This drive-in was the first time I was ever taken to a movie! It was 1974 and I was seven years-old. We lived in nearby Melville. The movie was THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH, with Sylvester Stallone (pre-ROCKY) and Henry Winkler (pre-HAPPY DAYS). Clearly, I was simply in the car with my dad while he watched the movies, otherwise he might have chosen something a little more kid-friendly. There were likely two other features with this, but I have no memory of them.
My dad took me there only one other time less than a year later to see YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. I remember the other two features were S.P.Y.S. and a re-issue of M.A.S.H.