Boxoffice, Oct. 18, 1971: “Anchorage, AK. - Plans for a drive-in that features individual screens at a cost of approximately $250,000, were announced by Frank Desiderio, president of Cinema 360 of Alaska. Located on the Seqard Highway at Huffman Road, the circular ozoner is expected to be operational by year’s end … Jim Harron, vice-president of Cinema National Corp., parent company of Cinema 360, … who was chiefly responsible for the development of the "circular drive-in” concept while president of Theatre Research and Development Co., said the theatre will have a central projection area beaming pictures to 120 screens around the circumference of the area … Each screen is 165 feet from the center of the projection area and the soundtrack is transmitted via low-power signals on an FCC frequency directly to the patron’s car radio."
I wish I could dig up as many newspaper clips as rivest266. What was the source this time?
To verify, I did find another article, written by local historian David Reamer and published in the Oct. 11, 2020 issue of the Anchorage Daily News. Reamer wrote that the Cinema 360 opened on Aug. 23, 1972 and closed “in late 1973, just over a year after opening.” He also added a note I hadn’t seen about those autoscopes: “If you parked slightly off-center from the screen, the image would blur.”
Reamer said the site was now a Carrs grocery store, so its address could be listed as 1501 Huffman Rd, Anchorage, AK 99515.
Here’s the link to high-res versions of this photo, which is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress and is effectively in the public domain.
This is a cropped version of a 1991 photo by John Margolies which is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
This is a cropped version of a 1977 photo by John Magolies which is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
This 1982 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1977 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1977 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1978 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1978 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1980 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
Boxoffice, Oct. 18, 1971: “Anchorage, AK. - Plans for a drive-in that features individual screens at a cost of approximately $250,000, were announced by Frank Desiderio, president of Cinema 360 of Alaska. Located on the Seqard Highway at Huffman Road, the circular ozoner is expected to be operational by year’s end … Jim Harron, vice-president of Cinema National Corp., parent company of Cinema 360, … who was chiefly responsible for the development of the "circular drive-in” concept while president of Theatre Research and Development Co., said the theatre will have a central projection area beaming pictures to 120 screens around the circumference of the area … Each screen is 165 feet from the center of the projection area and the soundtrack is transmitted via low-power signals on an FCC frequency directly to the patron’s car radio."
I wish I could dig up as many newspaper clips as rivest266. What was the source this time?
To verify, I did find another article, written by local historian David Reamer and published in the Oct. 11, 2020 issue of the Anchorage Daily News. Reamer wrote that the Cinema 360 opened on Aug. 23, 1972 and closed “in late 1973, just over a year after opening.” He also added a note I hadn’t seen about those autoscopes: “If you parked slightly off-center from the screen, the image would blur.”
Reamer said the site was now a Carrs grocery store, so its address could be listed as 1501 Huffman Rd, Anchorage, AK 99515.
This 1987 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
To amplify, this 1977 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
Here’s the link to high-res versions of this photo, which is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1980 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
Here’s the link to high-res versions of this 1988 photo, part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress.
Here’s the link to that photo, taken in 1980.
This 1979 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This is a cropped version of a 1991 photo by John Margolies which is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
This 1981 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1982 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1979 photo by John Margolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1982 photo by John Magolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1987 photo by John Magolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1993 photo by John Magolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This 1978 photo by John Magolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.
This is a cropped version of a 1977 photo by John Magolies which is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
This 2001 photo by John Magolies is part of the John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.