Santiam Drive-In
1240 47th Avenue,
Sweet Home,
OR
97386
1240 47th Avenue,
Sweet Home,
OR
97386
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The Santiam Drive-In opened prior to 1955, and had space for 175 cars. It was closed in 1985.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
My dad, Bud Brown, managed the Santiam in the early to mid 70s sadly I cant find any pictures.
Approx. address for this drive-in was 1244 47th Ave, Sweet Home, OR 97386.
Mahogany Lane
Sweet Home, OR 97386
The drive-in was located in between 46th Ave and 47th Ave at what is now Mahogany Lane, a cul-de-sac of residential homes.
AGAIN The correct address for this ozoner (get it?) Is 1240 47th Ave, Sweet Home, OR 97386. This points directly to the entrance road. Mahogany Ln is THE ACTUAL DRIVE IN! Don’t be confused! Verified through Historical Aerials…
Please update. Sorry for the rant! 😙😙😙
Still in operation in 1985 but closed by 1994. Speaking of, the 1985 aerial looks kinda confusing actually, because the traces look like that they were completely covered in grass. At the time, the Santiam is operated by Lebanon Theatres, the same chain that also operates the Motor-Vu in Lebanon.
I see grass as well in the 1982 aerial. Normally, that would indicate a closed drive-in. But if it was still advertising at that time, then it would be open.
Also, is there any verification outside of the aerial that says the entrance was on 47th Street? Because I see either an entrance or exit road right next to the screen on 46th Street. And I’m NOT seeing a ticket booth in either location which would verify the entrance road because the aerial itself is a little blurry.
We can always guess, but verification outside the aerial is needed. Otherwise, Mahogany Lane works pretty well since it is the center of the drive-in property.
It still advertises in 1985. I recently looked through a page from the Lebanon Express and it features an advertisement for the theater with a very bright picture of the marquee in the daytime.
I’ve seen drive-ins out of use for decades and as long as the property was well-kept and everything is intact, it can be difficult to tell. But growing grass normally means no cars are parking on the ramps. Perhaps the greenish ground is simply bad color in the photo.
The marquee, which I assume would be on Main Street, might verify whether 46th or 47th was where the entrance road connected. Assuming anything else is identifiable in the photo.
Correction: The marquee picture I found is the neighboring Motor-Vu. I cannot find any picture that features the Santiam. Thanks to the Motor-Vu’s ad, it said that the Santiam was still operating that year.
Also, I read an advertisement that featured the Motor-Vu from a year later in 1986 and it does not demonstrate any info about the Santiam. So I’m pretty sure that the Santiam closed after the 1985 season.