Airport Indoor & Outdoor Theatre
645 North James Road,
Columbus,
OH
43219
645 North James Road,
Columbus,
OH
43219
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Airport Drive-In
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Franklin County’s (Ohio) first ‘in-and-outdoor’ theatre opened on May 29, 1957. Like a traditional drive-in, the Airport Drive-In had a 1,000 car capacity layout. However, attached on both ends of the centrally located projection building, were indoors theatres, each seating 200. In front of each indoor theatre was a wall-size sheet of plate glass. Through this, the audience watched the same movie that everyone in their cars viewed while looking at the outdoor screen. The Airport Drive-In closed after the 1983 season. The land is now used for industrial-commercial purposes.
Contributed by
Dow Ellis
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Added aerial view from 1957
Opening movies were THE KENTUCKIAN and MAN WITH A GUN. Address of the theatre was 645 N. James Road. In later years, it was outdoor only.
When this theatre was opened, it was called the AIRPORT INDOOR/OUTDOOR. In later years, it was just AIRPORT DRIVE-IN. I don’t know when the indoor part was removed…the theatre was always listed in the Drive-In section of the newspaper listings. I can find no record that it was ever called AIRPARK.
The building that sat underneath the screen still stands. It is now an auto parts store. This may have been one of the indoor theaters. You can see it on Google Streetview.
Opened on May 30th, 1957? that is the date of the grand opening ad.
Although the Grand Opening ad is dated 5/30/57, the theatre showed its first movies on 5/29/57.