Family Drive-In
713 E. Baltimore Avenue,
Clifton Heights,
PA
19018
713 E. Baltimore Avenue,
Clifton Heights,
PA
19018
2 people
favorited this theater
This was your standard drive-in and nothing special about it. The Family Drive-In was opened by 1950. It was managed and operated by Budco Theatres out of Doylestown, PA. It was closed on November 26, 1978 with Henry Winkler in “Heroes” & Charles Durning in “The Choirboys”.
Contributed by
raymondgordonsears
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Here is a 1971 photo. I used 713 E. Baltimore Pike, which is the address of the KMart:
http://tinyurl.com/ykol5d8
In 1956 it was owned by J.Van Lloyd. it still parked 550 cars.
Was looking at the aerial photos, I never thought about how much a drive in looked like a baseball park.
The Family was purchased as a package deal, with the Main Line Drive-In and 309 Drive-In by Budco. I managed the theater in the 60s, Berlo Vending ran the concessions for Budco in most of it’s theaters.
Never seen the concession that far back.wonder what the thinking was?
Mike, the original concession stand was right behind the projection booth, in the mid 60’s it was torn down and replaced by a new one at the rear of the theater.
The following item appeared Aug. 12, 1978, in the NEWS of Delaware County.
Relief is less than a month away for those Clifton Heights and Drexel Hill residents who have complained in the past about sexually-explicit films being shown at the Family Drive-In.
On Labor Day, the theatre management will present the last picture show. Soon thereafter, ground will be broken on the drive-in site for a K-Mart department store.
The issuing of a building permit for the $1 million project clears the way for builders to begin work on the new store next month.
Oddly, the “Family” drive-in went out of busines showing adult films. It was really a dirty, poorly maintained theatre as were many of the Budco chain back then. A few downtown theatres were palaces but the suburban ones were wrecks. Eric really put them out of business with their “black box”, no frills theatres at a time when the business was tough to begin with. Ultimately they both were taken out by the big consolidated chains. In the case of this D-I, it was a humane death.
Correction: Ave. not Pike. Pike will not map to the K-Mart.
The Family Drive-In opened around 1950 and closed by Budco on November 26, 1978 with “Heroes” and “Choirboys”.