Tawas Drive-In
2005 US 23,
East Tawas,
MI
48730
2005 US 23,
East Tawas,
MI
48730
1 person
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Located on E. US Highway 23 and Aulerich Road, 3-miles north of East Tawas, MI. The Tawas Drive-In opened on July 2, 1952 with Paul Henreid in “Thief of Damascus” & Judy Canova in “Hit the Hay”. It had a capacity for 350 cars. It was operated by Ashmun Brothers of Caro. The capacity was later expanded to 400 cars in the 1970’s. This single screen drive-in closed in 1991.
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Lost Memory
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Address was 2005 N. US-23.
In 1993-1994, there were plans to build a Meijer store on the site, but it was canceled. A Presbyterian church was built on a portion of the lot ca. 1995, and a Citgo station in 1997. About 1/3 of the field remains unused; there is still a moonbeam light at the back of the lot, and the snackbar was still standing until 2005.
The current address for this theater is 2005 US 23, East Tawas MI 48730.
Please update.
The Tawas Drive-In was the seventh known Michigan drive-in project completed by my grandfather Albert S. “Al” Johnson’s Johnson Construction Company. The drive-in was located at 2005 N. US-23 in East Tawas, Michigan. I’ve uploaded scanned copies of all nine of Al’s Kodachrome slides.
His slides include one image showing construction of the concession/projection building with what could be a flatbed well-drilling rig in front of it. This image was taken in March 1952.
The remaining slides were shot in July 1952. These show the project nearing its completion. Vertical tongue-and-groove knotty pine sheathes the concession/projection building doors and also covers the ticket booth.
A Jeep, used to set the precast speaker stands, is shown in one slide. A swing set can be seen in front of the screen. Child play areas, sometimes with benches or chairs from which their parents could watch over their children, were a common feature of drive-ins of the era.
Two images show the drive-in on opening night. The marquee reads: “Gala Opening Tonight ‘Thief of Bagdad’ and Judy Canova in ‘Hit the Hay’ Souvenirs to first 500 cars.”
More recent photos of the drive-in at the waterwinterwonderland.com website show that the screen had been widened at some point. The site also states that the drive-in was closed after the 1991 season.
A closer address is 2099 US-23, East Tawas, MI.
This places it right on the East Tawas Shot N Go which is now the entrance to the property. Today, most of the field is still empty and you can still see most of the outline, a faint hint of ramps, and the foundation of the projection booth/snack bar.
https://tinyurl.com/3pvmxtna