Sunset Drive-In

842 S. Hughes Avenue,
Fresno, CA 93726

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rivest266
rivest266 on February 24, 2021 at 4:21 pm

Opened on April 20th, 1950. Grand opening ad posted.

rivest266
rivest266 on February 9, 2021 at 5:01 pm

Closed 1983.

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on November 5, 2018 at 2:13 pm

was demolished in 2004. so when did it close though?

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 13, 2018 at 12:17 am

609 cars. Site is now an empty field.

authorchristopherstone
authorchristopherstone on February 16, 2017 at 1:54 pm

As a child in Fresno, I was in the back seat for movies at the Sunset. Back then, the price of admission was a scant one dollar per carload of movie-goers. The Sunset was famous for dusk till dawn movie marathons.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on November 11, 2008 at 7:47 pm

Here is an article from the Fresno Bee Republican dated 5/15/62:

Fire gutted the concrete block concession building at the Sunset Drive-In Theater at North Hughes and West Whites Bridge Avenues. The damage was estimated at $20,000 to $25,000. A passerby saw a column of smoke rising from the building shortly after noon yesterday and telephoned the Fresno Fire Department. Three units controlled the blaze in about 20 minutes.

Edward W. Stokes, the district manager for Electrovision, Inc., owners of the theater, estimated the loss. He said it includes foodstuffs valued at $2,000 and kitchen equipment worth $10,000. The theater projection equipment, housed in a room separated by a brick wall from the fire, was not damaged. Stokes said a new refreshment stand will be built immediately. The theater is expected to reopen tomorrow night without a food concession.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on September 27, 2008 at 1:37 pm

This was a Robert Lippert theater in the early 1960s. Capacity was 400 cars.