Tower Drive-In

3649 New Bern Avenue,
Raleigh, NC 27610

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Piedmont Amusement Co. Inc.

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Tower Drive-In

Car capacity was at 450. Owned and operated by Piedmont Theatres. The Tower Drive-In was opened on June 17, 1949 with Bob Hope in “Where There’s Life”. It was closed on September 2, 1974 with Clint Eastwood in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” & James Stewart in “Bandolaro”. It has been demolished.

Contributed by raymond

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

raysson
raysson on September 1, 2010 at 3:03 pm

The drive-in closed in early 1975 and was demolished. Located off New Bern Avenue near the Raleigh Beltline in Southeast Raleigh,
The Tower Drive-In Theatre sat where Tower Shopping Center and Tower Merchants Shopping Center now stands.

OldSchoolMan
OldSchoolMan on February 9, 2017 at 3:34 pm

Lewis Tew managed the drive-in, probably at the time it closed. He was the first manager at Tower Twin (in the Tower Shopping Center) when it opened in 1977 or 1978. By 1979, Tew was managing the Cardinal Theatre at North Hills. Before Tower Merchants Shopping Center was built next door to Tower Shopping Center in the early 1980s, one could see some remains of the drive-in. I recall seeing concrete slabs and a few poles. (The screen was long gone by then.)

raysson
raysson on February 24, 2017 at 1:28 pm

OldSchoolMan: Lewis Tew was the manager of the Tower Twin Theatres when it opened on December 21,1977 when it was part of the ABC Southeastern Theatres chain(that also owned and operated the Cardinal Theatre at North Hills and the Ambassador Theatre in Downtown Raleigh)…….

rivest266
rivest266 on May 8, 2020 at 1:26 pm

The Tower Drive-In opened on June 17th, 1949 with “Where’s there’s life”. Grand opening ad posted.

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on May 24, 2020 at 6:54 pm

The Tower Drive-In Theatre closed permanently on September 2, 1974 screening “Thunderbolt & Lightfoot” and “Bandolaro!” at the end of a 25-year lease. It was replaced by the Tower Shopping Center and ABC’s Tower Twin hardtop theatre.

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