Loew's Normandy Twin Open-Air Theatre
5011 Normandy Boulevard,
Jacksonville,
FL
32099
5011 Normandy Boulevard,
Jacksonville,
FL
32099
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 21 comments
Miniature Railroad, donkey rides, new playground and a new snack bar was added on July 6th, 1955 as Loews takes over this drive-in. Ads posted.
Opened as America’s finest drive-in on April 29th, 1949. Grand opening ad posted.
1 in Oklahoma, 2 used to be in Chicagoland. Owned by Loew’s also.
You could drive in the tunnel between theaters. Each had its own box office, projection and concession. Cool! 😍😍😄
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that the Normandie Twin Outdoor Theatre had recently opened at Jacksonville. In addition to accommodating over 1,000 cars, the facility had outdoor seating areas near the refreshment stands for about 400 walk-in customers.
I think I found the Normandy’s closing date. According to a Boxoffice article two weeks later about the indoor theaters that would replace the drive-in, “its long-postponed closing (was) the night of March 24,” 1963.
The Feb. 5, 1950 Boxoffice had a two-page story about the new Normandy, “a twin drive-in theatre with two identical screens and identical programs. One show starts 20 minutes after the other since one screen faces west and the other east”
From the July 2, 1955 issue of Billboard, as part of a note on Loew’s acquisition:
“The Normandy features a miniature Seaboard Silver Meteor, free donkey rides, and a five-acre playground.”
F. Earl Deloe architectural sketch in photos.
From Jacksonville a photo postcard image of the Normandy Open-Air Theatre.
WOW! Now THAT’s a drive-in!
Relinking to see if there is anymore info!
Nice marquee photo,Thanks.
Let me try that again.
http://www.drive-ins.com/pictures/fltnorm002.jpg
Huh? The picture shows the back of a screen (does not look like it was two-sided, as the screen was supposed to have been at this theater), and a section of a parking lot and what looks picnic tables.
This site has a marquee shot:
View link
Very nice looking Drive-in.
Thanks ken mc, would like to see a photo of the marquee.
There was an article about this theater in Boxoffice in JUne 1960:
http://tinyurl.com/ycxk3gn
Great shot of the drive-in, very neat design, Loews even had cool “open-air” theaters.
There are several views of the Normandy here:
View photo
The Normandy was a first class drive in with a great snack bar, outside seating and a playground. It also showed first run films from time to time.