Well, when my family moved to Irving in mid-1946, it did have two walk-in theaters, the Rio and Irving Theater. I used to go to both depending on what was playing. Of course as a six or seven year old kid, I wouldn’t watch anything but westerns.
The Irving Theater was much more modern than the Rio. The inside of the Rio was lined with open-flame gas heaters. Its a wonder that none of us died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The Rio didn’t make it until the early-1960’s, because it burned down in the 1950s. They just left the lot vacant.
I lived in Irving from about 1948 until 1981, and I saw many movies in both theaters, the one on Main Street, and the one on Irving Blvd.
You may not know this, but there was another movie theater in the early days located just up the street (north) on the same side as the Irving Theater. It was called the Rio and burned down sometime I estimate in about 1949 or 1950. The lot there was never built on after the Rio burned. What I remember was that the inside of the theater was lined with open flame gas heaters to keep the audience warm, as it seemed to be a lot colder then in winter than it is now. That’s probably why it burned. And it’s a wonder we didn’t all die of carbon monoxide poisoning.
We lived on N. Britain Road (320 N. Britain) in Irving from about 1951 to 1956. My mother, Mary Bell, worked in the concession stand at the 183 Drive-In during part of this time. For lack of a baby sitter, I sat many a time in our car watching movies while she worked.
I recall that the movie screen was not well positioned, as it faced to the southwest and caught full-on the afternoon sun. They could have probably started the movies 45 minutes earlier if they had only faced the screen to the northeast with the setting sun behind the screen.
The concession stand was a dugout, about four to five feet below the level of where the cars parked, so that people in the cars parked immediately behind the concession stand coud get an unobstructed view of the screen. I remember that one time we had a hard rain and the concession stand filled up.
Well, when my family moved to Irving in mid-1946, it did have two walk-in theaters, the Rio and Irving Theater. I used to go to both depending on what was playing. Of course as a six or seven year old kid, I wouldn’t watch anything but westerns.
The Irving Theater was much more modern than the Rio. The inside of the Rio was lined with open-flame gas heaters. Its a wonder that none of us died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The Rio didn’t make it until the early-1960’s, because it burned down in the 1950s. They just left the lot vacant.
Michael Bell
Irving resident 1946 – 1981
I lived in Irving from about 1948 until 1981, and I saw many movies in both theaters, the one on Main Street, and the one on Irving Blvd.
You may not know this, but there was another movie theater in the early days located just up the street (north) on the same side as the Irving Theater. It was called the Rio and burned down sometime I estimate in about 1949 or 1950. The lot there was never built on after the Rio burned. What I remember was that the inside of the theater was lined with open flame gas heaters to keep the audience warm, as it seemed to be a lot colder then in winter than it is now. That’s probably why it burned. And it’s a wonder we didn’t all die of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Michael Bell
McAllen, Texas
956-4540618
We lived on N. Britain Road (320 N. Britain) in Irving from about 1951 to 1956. My mother, Mary Bell, worked in the concession stand at the 183 Drive-In during part of this time. For lack of a baby sitter, I sat many a time in our car watching movies while she worked.
I recall that the movie screen was not well positioned, as it faced to the southwest and caught full-on the afternoon sun. They could have probably started the movies 45 minutes earlier if they had only faced the screen to the northeast with the setting sun behind the screen.
The concession stand was a dugout, about four to five feet below the level of where the cars parked, so that people in the cars parked immediately behind the concession stand coud get an unobstructed view of the screen. I remember that one time we had a hard rain and the concession stand filled up.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Bell