Manchester Drive-In
12610 Manchester Road,
Des Peres,
MO
63131
12610 Manchester Road,
Des Peres,
MO
63131
2 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: General Cinema Corp.
Previous Names: Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The first drive-in in metropolitan St. Louis, the venue opened as the Drive-In on May 24, 1940 with David Niven in “Raffles”. It was part of the Philip Smith chain. Capacity was 500 cars.
With other drive-in theatres opening, the facility was renamed the Manchester Drive-In in 1949. In 1954 it was expanded to accommodate 900-cars.
Located on Manchester Road just west of Ballas Road in Des Peres (a St. Louis suburb), theatre was doomed in 1965 when it was announced a shopping center would be built on the site.
Theatre closed on June 18, 1967 under the management of Philip Smith’s successor firm, General Cinema Corporation.
Contributed by
Jerry Alexander
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
In the street view, if you scroll around, you’ll see the West County Center mall. That is the former location of the Manchester Drive-In. Ironically, if you keep scrolling, you will also see the green cathedral roof of Wehrenberg’s Des Peres 14 Cine, which is on the other side of I-270 on Manchester Road.
Approx. address for this drive-in was 12610 Manchester Rd.
May 24th, 1940 grand opening ad in the photo section.
Opened with some short subjects(not named), and “Raffles”.
May 24, 1940 photo added courtesy Vintage St. Louis & Route 66 Facebook page.
Independent Film Journal, April 17, 1954: “Manchester Drive-In is adding three more ramps to accommodate 200 cars, increasing its capacity to about 900. It will also have a new 50x102 screen.”