Meadows Drive-In

92 Weston Street,
Hartford, CT 06120

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Cinex, General Cinema Corp.

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Meadows Drive-In

Held 2,500 cars and included a motorized ride playground for the kids before the movie started. There were 6 concession lines. Was owned by Russo Brothers and leased for 20 years by General Cinema, Corp. It was opened on August 10, 1955 with “King of the Jungle” & Charlton Heston in “The Private War of Major Benson”. It was closed in 1975. Hartford-based Cinex Corp. reopened it, but it soon closed.

It claimed it was the largest drive-in in the world and sat on 32 acres. On the property now was the former (torn down) Hartford Jai-Alai, opened in 1976. A car dealership will take its place. There is also a motel, roads, Mcdonalds and a Burger King on the property. By 2022 there was a Curaleaf Cannibis & a Liberty Honda parts center on the site.

It was one of the first to run TV fights on large screen. Was to be twinned back in early-1970’s but the main screen fell down and the to-be second screen was installed for the replacement.

Contributed by Mike Lupo

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

NYozoner
NYozoner on February 13, 2011 at 11:59 pm

Boce Barlow Way & Weston St, Hartford, CT 06120

The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in.

Here is a 1962 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.

jwmovies
jwmovies on October 21, 2012 at 11:19 pm

The drive-in entrance itself was on the highway east of Weston. Boce Barlow as well as Jennings did not exist when this drive-in was open.

The intersection above is actually in the middle of where the theatre stood.

Sage_on_the_Hudson
Sage_on_the_Hudson on April 10, 2016 at 1:41 am

The above photo was probably taken around the time that my father, Nathan Hern, left his position as manager of the Meadows to run the Hollowbrook, another drive-in in Westchester County, NY.

rivest266
rivest266 on February 22, 2017 at 3:06 am

August 10th, 1955 grand opening ad in the photo section.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on May 5, 2019 at 4:44 pm

A note in the June 26, 1957 Motion Picture Daily said that Joseph O'Neill had been named assistant to Joseph Bresnahan, resident manager of the “2,070-car capacity Meadows Drive-In, Hartford.”

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on May 5, 2019 at 6:49 pm

Opened with some colour cartoons(not naned), “Lord of the jungle”, and “The private war of Major Benson”.

jwmovies
jwmovies on December 26, 2022 at 10:18 am

Now Curaleaf Cannibis and Liberty Honda @ 92 Weston St, Hartford, CT 06120.

Please update.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on May 27, 2024 at 12:17 pm

Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1970: “The screen at the General Cinema Corp.’s first-run Meadows Drive-In toppled in a rainstorm, causing the theatre to close for five nights. The 2,070-car capacity Meadows is largest drive-in in Connecticut”

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