Roadium Drive-In
2500 Redondo Beach Boulevard,
Torrance,
CA
90504
2500 Redondo Beach Boulevard,
Torrance,
CA
90504
4 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Roadium Drive-In & Market (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Pacific Theatres, Pioneer Theater Corp.
Functions: Swap Meet
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
310.532.5678
Nearby Theaters
This was a run-of-the-mill drive in located in the North Torrance area towards Gardena, and a couple of blocks from El Camino College. It was opened by Gale Gasteigen on May 19, 1950, 1950. By 1955 it was operated by Pioneer Theatres and later Pacific Theatres. It was closed on September 26, 1985 with Mickey Rourke in “Year of the Dragon” & Clint Eastwood in “Pale Rider”. It became an open-air market/swap-meet.
It reopened in June 2019 for a summer 13-weeks run. The Swap-meet/market continues today.
Contributed by
manwithnoname
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
i don’t know why it was called roadium but that is a very interesting question.
now roadium open air market!
Is it near a military or NASA base, hence the missle(or rocket?) seen behind the screen in the above photo?
Responding to some older comments above about covered over projection ports on the back of the concession stand and the pre-opening matchbook cover. Going by the aerial shots on historicaerials this drive in was planned as a 2 screen. In the 1952 aerial the lot has only been half graded. But in the 1962 Aerial some ramps have been added to the back half of the lot pointing toward the front screen. It may have been that after the owners started the flea market that they realized that they could make more money with the flea market than they could ever make with a second screen that they decided to forgo it altogether and only have a single screen. I think that now that they are showing movies again they should add the second screen.
Correction: This opened on September 8th, 1950. The Roadium Drive-In in Paramount (now Paramount Drive-In opened on May 21st, 1948.)
Boxoffice reported that this Roadium opened on May 19, 1950.
Boxoffice, May 27, 1950: “GARDENA, CALIF. – Added to the swelling list of ozoners in the southland territory was the Roadium No. 2, 480-car drive-in which opened here (19). Dale Gasteigen is the owner and managing operator of the new showcase and is a partner with Joe Bianca in the operation of the Roadium No. 1, located in the nearby township of Paramount.”
Boxoffice, July 15, 1950: (opened 1950 list) “Roadium, 480, Dale Gastigen”
This drive-in also a 18 hole miniture golf course(most unusual in The World), The 40 foot rocket seen in the above photo, is part of the miniture golf course.
Several folks have asked about the origin of the name Roadium. I don’t know but I’d guess it’s a portmanteau of “road” and “auditorium.”
It closed as an outdoor movie theater in the mid-1980s, but reopened in 2019 for a 13-week summer run:
Torrance, CA: Roadium Drive-In Open Again for 13-Week Run [Jun 9, 2019]
Closed on September 26, 1985 with “Year Of The Dragon” and “Pale Rider”.