Big Sombrero Air Dome
20731 MO-59,
Noel,
MO
64854
20731 MO-59,
Noel,
MO
64854
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Located on the MO-AR state line, a funny thing about the Big Sombrero Air Dome was that it parked only 40 cars, with 10 seats for walk-in patrons! The Big Sombrero Air Dome was owned by Mrs J.B. Coverton and was operating by 1950 and was still open in 1955. Bet it was gone by the 1960’s.
Contributed by
MikeRogers
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
I worked at this theatre in 1956. Was that a long time ago.
The theatre has been gone for over 50 years. I wonder what happened to J. Bye. Coverston the owner.
I’m pretty sure I found the location. The closest address is 20731 MO-59, Noel, MO 64854. There is a property right on the state line opposite Stateline Liquor with a large shed on it – this is where Big Sombrero was located. In a 1955 aerial you can see what looks like ramps with a largish concession building where I guess the seats were.
The March 4, 1950 issue of Boxoffice ran a short story about the Big Sombrero Drive-In Theatre, which it placed in Sulphur Springs AR. Owner J. Bye Coverston used snap-on speakers, which he would hand out to each car when it came in, then collect as it exited. “When a patron fails to turn in his speaker he is asked to return to the ramp and get it.”
Coverston said, possibly in jest, that his position on the border helped with taxes. “The Arkansas-Missouri state line runs right through my drive-in,” he said with a broad grin, “and if taxation becomes unfavorable in Arkansas, I just move my boxoffice into Missouri and operate from there.”
A 1955 aerial photo showed the entirety of the drive-in on the Missouri side except for one entrance off the highway in Arkansas. Maybe that’s where the box office was in 1950?
The location now has an address on Google Earth, its 20918 MO-59, Noel.