Suburbia Triple Drive-In
2801 NW 13th Street,
Gainesville,
FL
32609
2801 NW 13th Street,
Gainesville,
FL
32609
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 12 comments
The Suburbia Drive-In and cinemas closed on May 4th, 1978 after a tornado tore through the drive-in.
On December 29th, 1969, two mini cinemas named Penthouse Mini 1 & 2 opened on the second floor of the refreshment stand. The Drive-In expanded on March 29th, 1974, by adding two more outdoor screens, bringing the total to five screens. One of the indoor penthouse cinemas began showing adult movies.
A 1984 aerial shows the drive-in demolished and seemingly for some time.
Opened March 10th, 1952. Grand opening ad posted
One of the owners of the Suburbia was once arrested by an FBI agent, and would later plead not guilty over an obscenity film in July 1974. Throughout the rest of the 1970s is where the theater had a bunch of ups-and-downs on films and even projection, as more incidents were being taken place there.
The Suburbia Drive-In once had a brief stunt with X rated films throughout 1971 but stopped before 1972 came along, and returned to normal film runs including first-run. 2 more screens were added in either late 1973 or early 1974.
How tall was that screen tower?
Thats the first multi level concession stand, i have heard of at a drive-in theatre.
Boxoffice ran a full-page layout on the Suburbia Center Drive-In in its Sept. 6, 1952 issue, including several photos of its unusual screen tower and concession building. The tower included three floors of apartments for personnel, and the three-story concession stand included 350 theatre seats on its second floor.
Actually, an article on Gainesville.com says that this was a Sam’s Club from 1990 to 2016 when they decided to move to Butler Plaza. And apparently, there’s now a store called Rural King where this drive-in once stood.
PLEASE UPDATE ADDRESS TO 2801 NW 13th Street.
I think this one would’ve been at about 2801 NW 13th Street. It’s been a Sam’s Club since at least 1995.