Metro Drive-In
511 River Street,
Palmer,
MA
01069
511 River Street,
Palmer,
MA
01069
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Boxoffice, Aug. 10, 1970: “The Metro Drive-In has been closed temporarily for construction of a new screen tower.”
This venue opened as the Metropolitan Airport Theater by Lawrence and Stella Micelli. The MAT opened on May 20, 1949 with Lucille Ball in “Personal Column” supported by “That Old Gang of Mine” with the East Side Kids. It was located less than two miles from Palmer Metropolitan Airport.
The theater’s name was changed three times. In 1951, it became the Metropolitan Airport Drive-In. “Airport” was dropped making it the Metropolitan Drive-In Theatre for the 1953 through early 1956 operational cycle. On July 25, 1956, it had a new widescreen tower to project CinemaScope titles staring with “Picnic” and was truncated to the Metro Drive-In. The Micelli family operated the Metro D-I to its 1986 closure. It final double-bill was on September 7, 1986 with “Maximum Overdrive” and “Friday the 13th, Part VI.”
Residential housing and a solar farm have taken over the property. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Approx. address for this drive-in was 511 River Street. Some of the ramps are still visible.
River St & Summer St, Palmer, MA 01069
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which is visible on Google Earth using present day imagery.
Here is a 1971 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of HistoricAerials.com.