Bel-Vista Drive-In & Bel-Vista Drive-In Indoor Theatre
201 Rosary Heights Road,
Springfield,
KY
40069
201 Rosary Heights Road,
Springfield,
KY
40069
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Bel-Vista Drive-In
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The Bel-Vista Drive-In was opened by J.A. Ball on August 24, 1950 with Dan Dailey in “Ticket to Tomahawk”. It was operated by Ball & Wheatley and Edward Campbell Ct. The car capacity was initially 300-cars, later expanded to 570 cars. On December 19, 1953 an indoor theatre was added, named Bel-Vista Drive-In Indoor Theatre, which allowed for an all year round operation. The drive-in was closed on October 29, 1978 with Roy Scheider in “Jaws 2” & Anthony Quinn in The Greek Tycoon". It had been demolished by 1985.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Bel Vista Dr. runs between BUS 150 aand Rosary Road, the drive-in was located on US 150.
The address for this Drive-in is now 201 Rosary Heights Rd, Springfield, KY 40069. Hwy 150 as it exists today was not there south of the Drive-in when it opened. Rosary Heights was the highway at the time according to aerials.
Also from the 1951 aerial, it looks like the screen originally was on the northwest side of the property and was later moved to the southeast side in preparation of the upcoming highway. There are ramps behind the screen facing the opposite direction from the ramps in front of the screen.
The August 24, 1950 grand opening ad in photos with “A Ticket to Tomahawk.” J.A. Ball then added the Bel-Vista Drive-In Indoor Theatre on December 19, 1953 so that year-round operations could be achieved. Turkeys were provided as an inventive to come to the new indoor theater.
The name is Bel-Vista (with a hyphen) for the particular.
Closed on October 29, 1978 with “Jaws 2” and “The Greek Tycoon”.
In looking at the 1951 aerial, the property behind the screen which may seem like ramps at first has the same characteristics to the east of the property as well.
In other words, this looks like the natural contours of the ground and not something that was created. Or it could be the result of plowing to plant crops. I’m not seeing any indication of construction, especially since the 1951 aerial was taken a year or less after the drive-in opened.
By 1985, the drive-in was completely razed with no trace remaining.