Clervue Drive-In
780 Hooks Street,
Clermont,
FL
34711
780 Hooks Street,
Clermont,
FL
34711
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Located close to where Highway 50 and Highway 27 come together. The original entrance was on Highway 50. When McDonalds was built the entrance was moved to the backside of the property, with an entrance on Hooks Street, to the right of the screen. The independently operated Clervue Drive-In opened on July 7, 1953. Car capacity was listed at 200 with a 35-seat viewing room for walk-in patrons. Later in the 1950’s it was taken over by MCM Theatres. The drive-in closed in 1988 and was demolished in 1992.
All that is left standing is the original sign now used for the city of Clermont and local businesses. The property is owned by the River Clermont Church who are located at 796 Hooks Street.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
1957 Aerial photo has been posted here.
I think the address should be “2780 Hooks St Clermont, Fl 34711.” Hooks not Hook and the zip code was wrong.
I’m not seeing the sign indicated in the description going back to 2008 Google Street View.
Where was the sign located?
The Clervue opened its gates on July 7, 1953, and was first operated by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin G. Calhoun of Montrose, Colorado. Later in the 1950s, it was operated by MCM Theatres.
Later operated by Sheldon Wimpfen of Winter Garden, the Clervue became local headlines in 1983 with its showing of explicit and foreign material during the very late hours. Wimpfen was interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel in February 1983 that they show the same average R-rated films that you can see anywhere in the state. He said that theater owners have difficult times to show G-rated features such as Disney stuff. He would rather show all Disney movies but they don’t make that many anymore which at the time instead shows special reissues. Wimpfen also recommend that foreign features were also screened since earlier that same year but were not sexually explicit, calling the films more tame. Clermont’s mayor, Charles Beals, sent a complaint letter to the owners asking that they would not show anymore explicit features.
Later that same year, citizens were tired of the explicit features they’ve shown, despite the direction of the screen it faced as people can witness the stuff from U.S. Highway 27 and Hooks Street. On November 10, 1983, city officials decided not to take legal action against the theater for showing nudity that are visible from nearby highways but they left open the possibility of future actions if more complaints continue.
The Clervue closed in 1988.