Skyview Drive-In
2260 Soquel Drive,
Santa Cruz,
CA
95065
2260 Soquel Drive,
Santa Cruz,
CA
95065
3 people
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Encina Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
This was a great family drive-in, first opened as the single screen Encina Drive-In on May 27, 1949 with Sonny Tufts in “The Untamed Breed” & Larry Parks in “The Swordsman”. It had a capacity for 440 cars. A second screen had been added by 1971.
Sadly, it was closed in December 2007 and the screens were demolished in May 2008. The concession building and projection booth are still standing in 2025. The site was used as a swap meet for several years.
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Recent comments (view all 23 comments)
May 27th, 1949 grand opening as Encina Drive-In as well as the March 15th, 1959 ad for the Skyview Drive-In as well as the April 2nd, 1971 ad for the Skyview Twin Drive-In in the photo section.
Opened with “The untamed breed” and “The swordsman”. 1062 cars. Site is now Santa Cruz Swap Meet.
The May 20, 1949 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel-News said that the new, 800-car Encina Drive-In would open within a week. The theater was owned by Frank Paone and John Forde, in partnership with Trans-Caliornia Theaters, a regional circuit. Paone and Forde had opened the Starview Drive-In, Santa Cruz County’s first, near Boulder Creek in 1947. Paone would manage the new theater.
The snack bar building is still there(possibly the bio box too?). Possibly also called Starlight Drive-in?
google lists this swap meet as closed weird as it is definetly open! sooooooooooo
Uploaded a 1954 ad as the Encina.
Drove by it a couple weeks ago, while I was in town for my 40th high school reunion. Still closed. Screens gone. Snack bar and projection booth still in place. Weeds everywhere. Fenced in off Soquel Blvd. Still undeveloped by the hospital.
An absolute nightmare for movie lovers.
Opened as Skyview Drive-in Theatre on 15th March with “The Blob” and “Villa”.
Opened as a Skyview Twin Drive-in Theatre on 2nd April 1971 on screen 1 with “Hillbillies in a haunted house”, the Muhammad Ali and Joe Frasier boxing match(in colour), “Taste the blood of Dracula”, and “The Wtchmaker”, and on screen 2 with “Doctors wives” and “The Magic Christian”.
Check out what is left soon! The Skyview DI is not demolished just yet. You can still see the old and new projection rooms plus refreshment building and boxofice areas. All the screens are gone and neon marquee out on Soquel Ave. The theatre lot will be razed in a few weeks. The old neon ‘Entrance’ sign over the boxoofice has been restored and is now lit at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz. See my new photos taken last week. By the time you read this (Oct 7 2025) the bulldozers/wrecking ball may have removed what was left of this classic Santa Cruz outdoor theatre. The next door hospital bought the land a few years ago and a new cancer center is going in where movies under the stars once played. No more drive In movies for a young new movie generation to enjoy in the beach city of Santa Cruz CA. You have to drive 40 minutes North to San Jose CA and go to the Syufy/Westwind DI.