Pawnee Drive-In
2400 South Broadway Street,
Wichita,
KS
67211
2400 South Broadway Street,
Wichita,
KS
67211
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The site is now an Advance Motor Sales store, Subway, and a Walmart store.
Operators Woody Barritt and Al McClure left Fox Midwest to operate this venue. They closed it on August 13, 1972 with John Wayne in “The Cowboys” and Dick Van Dyke in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” The pair auctioned off the the remnants of the drive-in to raze the Rainbow Drive-In in favor of the rebuilt Landmark Twin Drive-In (later Starlite).
Grand opening ad posted.
Last season: 1972
Here are some memories of the Pawnee.
I uploaded the screen tower picture for the non-Facebook users.
The Pawnee Drive-In was designed by Wichita architect Homer K. Brunk, as noted in his entry in the 1962 AIA directory.
The Pawnee opened on July 4, 1950. It’s first movie was “Red River”, starring John Wayne.