Pettit's Drive-In
821 Springfield Road,
Ava,
MO
65608
821 Springfield Road,
Ava,
MO
65608
1 person
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The Pettit’s Drive-In was located in Ava, Missouri in the southern part of the state. The Pettit’s Drive-In was opened on May 23, 1952 with Maria Montez in “Gypsy Wildcat”. It held 200 cars and during the 1950’s it was owned by L.H. Pettit. It was closed in 1957 & 1958 and reopened in 1959. It was still open in 2004. In 2019 the concession building still stood, as did the projection booth and ramps. It had been demolished by 2024.
Contributed by
MikeRogers
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
Chuck,got my info from that old 1956 motion picture Almanac I found in the old Miller theatre.
A more accurate address for this theater is 821 Springfield Rd, Ava, MO 65608. This points directly to the drive in itself.
Please update.
the ramps and projectors booth still remain please update.
edit the concession stand also remains.
I just checked both addresses on google earth and 821 springfield road and 808 n w 12th ave are the same location this is Hwy 14 DI
If anyone has time I know that the library at Mu College in Columbia Mo has photo clips of past news papers and other cities in Missouri
In comparing the 1955 and 1983 aerial photos, the drive in appears virtually to be the same. The screen appears to be the same size. Perhaps it is slightly wider, but if so, it’s not by much.
Seems more likely that the drive in closed in 1954 and was left basically intact when speaker posts were added and maybe the screen slightly widened before it was reopened in 1959.
My dear friends and colleagues,
I deeply appreciate the wealth of information I find at CinemaTreasures. I hope that we are working together, not in competition, to pool information and uncover the historical facts of these theaters.
It would be very helpful for us all to cite sources of information. If you were there in person, mention that. If you’re quoting the Motion Picture Almanac, we’ve learned that it was often slow to notice changes. If the source is Boxoffice, we know that it sometimes prematurely announced openings. And so forth.
I spot-checked the Pettit-owned theater ads in July issues of Ava’s Douglas County Herald. Listings for “the drive-in” there continued in 1955 and 1956. That was not included in the July 1957 and 1958 issues I checked.
Edited from my May 31, 2020 (7:47 AM) comment:
The Pettit’s Drive-In opened its doors on May 23, 1952 With Jon Hall in “Gypsy Wildcat” (unknown if any short subjects). It was part of the Pettit Theatres chain who also operated other theaters across Ava and several other towns.
The Pettit’s Drive-In closed after the 1956 season, sat abandoned for two years, and reopened as the Drive-In of Ava (later Ava Drive-In which closed in 1978; which has its own page on Cinema Treasures).
A Dollar General has been built on the property. There is nothing left of the drive-in. In addition, all the trees surrounding the property have been razed as well.