Tri-City Drive-In
25352 Redlands Boulevard,
Loma Linda,
CA
92354
25352 Redlands Boulevard,
Loma Linda,
CA
92354
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Soon after Park-In sued Rogers and Burgess, but before being renamed, the drive-in reopened on May 1, 1940 under new management. My guess is that the new owner, R. N. Elder, had a Park-In license.
A short article in the San Bernardino County Sun noted, “Improvements have been made at the outdoor theater and the entire parking area has been enclosed by fence.”
The screen was still standing in 1994, but by 2002 it had been demolished as well.
One interesting bit is a rectangular concrete foundation on the SE side of the drive-in connected to the entrance road. Nothing existed in that spot up to the 1985 aerial, but in the 1994 aerial a section of trees was removed and by 2002 the foundation appears. It’s as if something was planned to be built there (foundation for a cellphone tower or small shop perhaps), but never going beyond that stage.
Rather surprising that the property hasn’t been developed. At least in my experience, drive-ins located within growing cities in California quickly become businesses or housing editions.
https://tinyurl.com/8k58j6bv
As another poster mentioned, before it changed to the 99, this place had its grand opening as simply Drive-In Theatre.
Boxoffice, March 30, 1940: “Colton, Cal. - M. A. Rogers and Thomas Burgess have been sued by Park-In Theatres, Inc., of Camden, N. J., on charges of patent infringement in connection with a Drive-In Theatre they operate here.”
It’s not an empty field, the decaying ramps still exist along with the trees on the outline of the site. The entry/exit still exists as well.
What became the Tri-City was advertising as the 99 Drive-In in 1940. The “99” was featured in its ads after it reopened in 1947 until it became the Tri-City, which was Nov. 28, 1948 according to DriveIn101 above.
Opened with “Trade winds”, and “The Girl said no”. Demolished(date unknown?). Now an empty field. Address is Highway 99, at Richardson Street.
The Tri-City’s final night of operation was September 6, 1993 with “The Fugitive” and “Free Willy”
Whoever is responsible for making changes, please change the date of the first newspaper ad as Tri-City to November 28, 1948. Once the change is made, I will delete this and the previous comment. My apologies for the error
First newspaper ad as Tri-City Drive-In (from the San Bernardino County Sun) was November 28, 1949
This drive-in might be the drive-in seen in an episode of the tv series Chips(season 3, episode 6 – Return of the supercycle)?
“The Rocketeer” was presented here in 35mm beginning on Friday June 21, 1991.
This opened as Drive-In on August 20th, 1939 and closed in 1940. Reopened on January 1st, 1947 and renamed Tri-City by December 1st, 1949. Grand opening ads in photo section.
dammit! well,it works anyway.
[http://www.tinyurl.com/pqeknn]Fixed link](http://www.tinyurl.com/pqeknn)
According to the history of Loma Linda:http://tinyurl.com/pqeknn
it wasn’t until 1970 that this largely Seventh Day Adventist community became an incorparated city.
No wonder they called it Tri-City. No one seems to know where it was, specifically. The 1952 ad puts it between Colton and Redlands, but my question would be whether Loma Linda even existed as a city back then. If not, then the theater would have been in no mans land between the two cities mentioned in the ad.
I drove by there yesterday on the way back to Calimesa. Absolutely nothing remains of the drive-in. I can recall a lot of exploitation movies played here in the 1970s-80s.
This is from the Redlands Daily Facts, July 1952:
“Quo Vadisâ€, the story of the world’s most wicked empire and the love story of a pagan soldier and a beautiful Christian slave girl, starts tomorrow at the Tri-City Drive-In theatre, Highway 99 between Colton and Redlands. The Metro Goldwyn Mayer film stars Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr with a cast of thousands.
Here are 1983 and 1984 photos, respectively. San Berdoo would be the third of the tri-cities, along with Redlands and Loma Linda.
http://tinyurl.com/o3ar3q
http://tinyurl.com/re6437
2 small pictures HERE
I’m surprised the land isn’t developed for other use yet. In THIS 1994 shot, the screen still looks to be there. Looks to be gone in mid to late 90’s.