Skyway Drive-In
11945 N. Florida Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33612
11945 N. Florida Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33612
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The address above is incorrect. It was further north.
Now Tesla(!) @ 11945 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33612.
Plsase update.
I lived right behind the Skyway drive in theater on 120th Avenue from 1956 to 1970 4 houses behind the back fence. As a 6 year old with 2 brothers and 2 sisters all a year apart in age at 3-7 years old, my mother took us to the Skyway to watch Vincent Price scary movies. Other times we climbed on the roof to watch with no sound. I was in the 9th grade at Adams junior high in April 1966 when the tornado hit and pretty much destroyed the house taking the roof and some walls down.
This opened on June 3rd, 1948 (or before since the management never bothered to put ads in both papers in town., just a small listing)
Found on Newspapers.com
Reopened under new management on March 1st, 1949. That grand opening ad in the photo section.
The Skyway closed around 1983. I know I watched movies there in the early 80’s. I went there with my husband & I didn’t meet him til 80.
msroane79 you are correct it was Bob Wilson Dodge. Also the status should be updated to demolished.
I do not think the description for this drive-in is correct. The dealership that replaced it was Bob Wilson Dodge in the mid 70’s. That dealership closed in 2008 and I believe that space is still unused. Perfect spot for a movie theater if you ask me :)
I lived near this drive in in my teen age years. They had a storm that destroyed the screen and projection box (the box was recessed in the parking lot and was prone to flooding, projectors where on cement blocks)….It was rebuilt with a modern curved screen and new concession + integrated elevated projection booth towards the rear of the property.
My father. W. G. “Mike” Carmichael, was in the movie business from 1921 till his death in 1967, and J. C. “Cass” Carscallen and his wife, Cody, were family friends. Cass Carscallen was born a British subject in Canada, and he and my father worked together in the movie business during the golden decades of Hollywood. Our family visited the Skyway on several occasions from the late 1950s until the mid-60s. The Carscallens lived in a very smart modern apartment build beneath the screen of the Skyway – an architectural delight that we thought amazingly modern and chic in those days. Their business thrived quite successfully, and they retired to Windsor, Ontario.
I had quite a few And like a dummy threw them away.I know Nick has a Few.
A great handbill from the early 1950s – thanks for posting!
Yeah,me too,Thanks Nick.
Thankd Nick.
And here’s a current aerial of the lot as it looks today. A new car dealership replaced the Skyway and today that dealership is history. I say bring back the Skyway!
View link
Thanks Mike. Here’s an aerial from 1957:
View link
Dean Martin in “WHO’S GOT THE ACTION” and “FIVE BRANDED WOMEN” playing Sunday night April 7 1963.Admission was 35 cents,one of the cheaper Drive-ins in Tampa.
Thanks Nick,and Mike.
Thanks Mike! Yes, it was built and privately owned and managed by J.C. Carscallen until around the mid-1960s when it was sold to Floyd Theatres. Not long afterwards a tornado touched down in the area one morning damaging several homes and knocking down the Skyway’s screen. Afterwards Floyd Theatres put up a new steel screen. The original screen was about 60 feet wide. Not certain if it was constructed of wood or metal or cinder block or maybe a combination of all these. I do remember the center portion was flat with slightly curved extentions added to each end. The replacement steel screen was also slightly curved.
It was owned by J.C. Carscallen.In 1956.
Driving by the former Skyway lot last week I noticed the car dealership that took it’s place is now gone. The showroom and service buildings are still standing but are now boarded up and surrounded by tall grass and weeds. Looks like they’ve been abandoned for quite some time. I say they should demolish the buildings and bring back the Skyway!! The Fun-Lan is Tampa’s only surviving drive-in (and apparently doing very well) so I believe the city could surely support another drive-in.
I remember my first visit to the Skyway was in 1963. The double feature that evening was Presley’s “FUN IN ACAPULCO” and “DEAR HEART” with Glenn Ford. And some others I remember over the years were “THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE” “BUSTER & BILLIE” “WELCOME HOME SOLDIER BOYS.” I didn’t see many films here as I’d have to drive over from the opposite side of town, and there were at least 3 other drive-ins much closer.