51 Drive-In
3075 W. Kenosha Street,
Broken Arrow,
OK
74012
3075 W. Kenosha Street,
Broken Arrow,
OK
74012
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previous Names: Broken Arrow Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The Broken Arrow Drive-In was opened on June 31, 1953 with Rosemary Clooney in “The Stars are Singing”. In 1965 it was renamed 51 Drive-In, it was owned by B.H. Stevens. It was a single screen with a 280 car capacity. It suffered tornado damage in 1994 and was closed in 1995.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
See this open air cinema as it original looked as the Broken Arrow Drive-In Theatre,
http://tulsatvmemories.com/aida.html
Photos & a description of the 51 can be found on this fine link –
View link
51 (AKA- Broken Arrow) Drive-In web page …
http://tulsatvmemories.com/51drive.html
has since been demolished only the ramps remain
https://www.google.com/maps/place/14007+East+71st+St+S,+Broken+Arrow,+OK+74014/.0593045,-95.7306488,641m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!1m2!2m1!1s14007+71st+Street+NE,+Broken+Arrow,+OK
please update!
dansdriveintheater is incorrect.
The drive-in remains in its original condition minus the screen.
It has not been demolished. The area indicated on his Google map is not the correct location.
This is the correct location.
https://tinyurl.com/y7xgh2vo
The address listed above is incorrect. The location of this theater is 3075 W Kenosha St, Broken Arrow, OK 74012. This points directly to the drive in itself. Check the website given by Seymour. This matches the drive in skeleton. FYI West Kenosha is used now not E. 71st St. S. There is no 71st St NE in Broken Arrow.
Please update.
Actually, the answer is that both 3075 W Kenosha Street, Broken Arrow and 3075 E 71st Street, Tulsa are legitimate addresses. This is because when the 51 Drive-In was originally built it was outside the city limits of Broken Arrow and Tulsa.
Both cities have merged along 71st and W Kenosha, so either one works and both claim the area.
As a side note, despite the excellent condition of the drive-in itself apart from the missing screen, I highly doubt it will ever re-open. This is because 71st/Kenosha has been widened making getting into the drive-in quite difficult.
Given that 71st is one of the busiest roads in the area, the traffic backup would be massive unless the drive-in itself was considerably reduced in size.
Broken Arrow Drive-in opened on 31/6/1953 with a colour cartoon(not named), news and “The stars are singing”. 51 Drive-in opened in 1965. Screen destroyed by a tornado in may 1993.
The 51 Drive-In closed in 1993, not 1994. A tornado took out the screen in May of 1993.
According to TulsaTVMemories.com, the owner had passed away just a few months earlier. When the screen was destroyed, his widow decided not to rebuild the screen or sell the property despite getting several offers.
She closed it down and it remains closed. Despite what Google Maps says about being “temporarily closed”. I’d say any business that had been closed for 30 years and counting could safely be called “permanently closed”.