Front Drive-In
1279 Upper Front Street,
Binghamton,
NY
13901
1279 Upper Front Street,
Binghamton,
NY
13901
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I Checked On Other Websites, It Did Close In 1963.
Correction – first run news, not nfws.
Also opened with a cartoon(not named), first run nrws and “Drummer man”. Closed in 1o63 afterI-81 cut off the drive-in from Upper Front Street.
I Can’t Find A Lot Of Information About The Front Drive-In. But All I Remember Is In 1965, The Front Doubled The State’s Offer. But I Can’t Find Anything About The Front Drive-In Ever Since 1964. I Think They Closed It After The 1963 Season Or Something Else….
This opened on June 22nd, 1949.
Grand opening ad in the photo section and below.
Found on Newspapers.com powered by Newspapers.com
When I was in 4th grade at Nimmonsburg Elementary I lived above the Town & Country Restaurant (now Dunkin Donuts). We used to walk in through the back and watch movies here in the Summer of 1959.
Dear lalainthelibrary — The Sun Theatre was on Glenwood Avenue at the corner of Julian Street. The building still stands. You can see it in this web site’s page for The Sun Theatre. Check it out. Jim Macumber
@steve_verno: Where was the Sun theater?
More information
Bull’s eye. The little triangle area in the aerial photo with the spot inside it corresponds exactly to my mid ‘70s memory of there being a marquee sign there, and looking at googlemaps it also corresponds exactly to where Wendy’s (1251 Upper Front Street) is. I remember they put the Wendy’s sign right where the old marquee sign had been.
Looks like the drive-in itself is now Wolfe Park. Interesting! Worth a visit sometime.
We used to go here when we didnt go to the V-drive In or Airport Drive In. Saturdays were the best days. Going to the Sun Theater in the afternoon and drive in at Saturday night. I wish those days were back and so were drive-ins.
@Sam: Ask and ye shall receive.
Here is a 1958 aerial photo of the Front Drive-In, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS:
http://flic.kr/p/99ZpVm
It looks like it was a beautiful drive-in, it’s a shame they had to build I-81 over it.
O.K.
Bet we could find the entrance if we had some sort of Aerial view of the old place….
THE FRONT DRIVE IN in 1956 held 720 cars and was owned by Herbert Nitke.FRONT DRIVE-IN THEATRE CORP.
I think the entrance was actually where Wendy’s is now. The reason I say this is that in the ‘70s, just before they built Wendy’s, there was still a triangular entry marquee sign next to the road. It was not lettered, so it could have been for something else, but it looked like a drive-in entrance sign. When they built the Wendy’s the sign was removed.
A correction to an earlier post: I was told that this drive-in was located at the site where the Empire Plaza now sits.
Was mentioned in the documentary “Drive-In Movie Memories” in 2001.
The Front Drive-in opened in June 22, 1949. It’s final season was in 1963. It closed due to the construction of I-81.
I believe Corey’s Northgate Ford and Mazda now sits on the site of the former Front Drive-In (1279 Upper Front St.).