Roosevelt Drive-In
SR440 and Kellogg Street,
Jersey City,
NJ
07305
SR440 and Kellogg Street,
Jersey City,
NJ
07305
2 people
favorited this theater
Located in the Hackensack River Waterfront area in the west of Jersey City. The Roosevelt Drive-In was opened on July 13, 1955 by General Cinema Corp. Opening movies were James Stewart in “Strategic Air Command” & Sterling Hayden in “Shotgun”. It was closed on August 27, 1978 with Susan George in “Tintorera: Killer Shark” & “Shark’s Treasure”.
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Robert R
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Nothing has been done to this site, its still being cleaned up by the city. Just fenced off.
I spent many nights here since my both parents were born and raised in Greenville section of Jersey City. We moved out to North Arlington when I was 3 but many of our relatives still lived in Jersey City. My dad worked in the Amercian Can Company as did my both uncles along with many other Jersey City residents back then. My dad also bowled on a bowling league at the Roosevelt Lanes and I remember going there also. Years later I took my kids to the drive in there to see Grease. I also remember going to see the Grateful Dead at Roosevelt Stadium whish is not gone also. Many memories in my mind are physically gone in NJ. I guess that is progress or just part of getting old, a part I wish were different. Other countries preserve their older buildings, stadiums, etc. rather than tearing them down, I wish we did the same here.
i used to sell newspapers at the great eastern dept store, and would go over to the drive-in to see parts of movies. it also gave memy intro. to dirty movies,which a couple of years later turned over to.
Approx. location for this drive-in was just north of New Jersey 440 & Kellogg St, Jersey City, NJ 07305. This was across from w hat is now Home Depot.
I used to go there in the 60s. It was located right behind the Great Eastern Mills store. Memories!!!
This opened in Late 1955. No grand opening ad found as the digital archive is missing issues.
The Roosevelt Drive-In opened on July 13th, 1955, as the “World’s most luxurious Drive-In Theatre”. Grand opening ad posted.
Opened on 13th July 1955 with “Strategic air command” and “Shotgun”.
What is being cleaned up that site?
Drive-Ins were often built by land speculators who wanted to lease land for low-risk ventures that could be demolished at any time, especially when the land value increased. The drive-in that led to the highest dollar project ever in the history of drive-in theater replacements is found right here on the waterfront of the Hackensack River: the Roosevelt Drive-In.
The exceedingly large - space for 2,000 cars - Roosevelt Drive-In Theatre came in on July 13, 1955 by Richard A. Smith’s Smith’s Management (later General Drive-In and, yet later, General Cinema Corp.) with “Strategic Air Command” & “Shotgun” playing in CinemaScope. In 1972, the Drive-In business had changed and it was raided in the porno chic era for showing “School Girls Growing Up” for alleged obscenity. The site was extensively photographed by the district attorney’s office at that point because underage folks were seen outside of the venue getting free looks - a concern for locals. It wasn’t the last time the drive-in would be heavily photographed.
The Roosevelt returned to R and PG exploitation double-feature fare going out of business following a shark-infested double-feature with “Tintorera” and “Shark’s Treasure” on August 27, 1978. The City bought the land to develop the property with a reboot as early as the start of the 1980s. A funny thing happened, however, when toxic waste housed in barrels was dumped on the site leading to a slight delay in the project - four decades - and a massive clean-up bill to remove the toxic hazard that was New Jersey’s Roosevelt Drive-In site.
The barrels turned out to be only a tiny fraction of the problem as toxic “hexavalent chromium” (in response to the question above) had seeped into the waterway turning it green. Two photographers captured the toxic green ooze that was the Hackensack River with the abandoned Roosevelt Drive-In prevalent in many of those shots (see photos). The dystopian art display made the art circuit rounds. Meanwhile, the question became, “Who would pay for this mess?” By the time the clean-up was ostensibly completed - to the best of anyone’s knowledge - the project had surpassed $500 million. That’s before any project could even be built on the property.
So the answer to the question, “What’s the highest dollar project ever at a former drive-in theatre?” It is clearly the Roosevelt Drive-In Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey.