Mid-City Outdoor
702 Sheridan Road,
Somers,
Kenosha,
WI
53140
702 Sheridan Road,
Somers,
Kenosha,
WI
53140
4 people
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Edited from my March 20, 2020 comment: The Mid-City Outdoor was demolished on April 30, 1985.
The Mid-City Outdoor opened on April 16, 1949 with “Red River.” The ozoner closed after 35 years likely at end of lease with its final films on September 2, 1984 as “Oxford Blues,” “C.H.U.D.” and “Humanoids from the Deep.”
KENOSHA DRIVE-INS RUN GAMUT OF PROMOTION /// Kenosha, Wis. – The Macy-Gimbel price war and Bill Veeck’s recent baseball circus are “small potatoes” compared with the shenanigans of the managers of two outdoor theatres here. Word has traveled among theatregoers in this city that “you really get your money’s worth at the Mid-City on Highway 42, north of the city, and the Keno Family Drive-In on 42 south of the city. The two managers – William Wallos of Mid-City and Robert Peck of Keno Family – help spread the word in newspaper advertisements, radio announcements, posters, handbills and by sound truck. In addition to seeing a movie, or two movies, or sometimes three movies, the Kenosha patrons have been given wrestling, fireworks, bicycle racing on rollers, and a monkey village to watch. One or the other theatre has offered free cigars, parties, towing and repair service, baby bottle warming and guess-the-star contests. The managers even send scouts across town to see coming attractions at the rival theatres. The Keno scored a first when it presented first-run pictures at no increase in regular prices. Mid-City is close behind, scheduling a back-to-school and Christmas party both in September! Santa Claus himself will be on hand to greet the youngsters who come to the outdoor movie with their parents. Square dancing in front of the giant screens has already been introduced with midnight shows, pony rides, and playgrounds for the kiddies. For example, one of the theatres announced that it would bring a special super attraction to its grounds – a real live monkey village. A day or two later, the other theatre told the children to come and see real live bear cubs! It was the same way with wrestling. (Boxoffice Magazine, September 22, 1951)
The second show(on opening night) was the movie “Red River)”.
Opening ceremonies were recorded by WLIP for rebroadcast on Sunday from 5:30 to 6 PM with Jerry Golden announcing. Kenosha County Board Chairman Peter Harris met Racine County Board Chairman Martin Herzog to cut the ribbon. Jay Rhodes welcomed the MID-CITY to Somers, and the Kenosha VFW Post 1865 Jr. Drum and Bugle Corps performed. The program began at 6:50 with short subjects including the Popular Science feature “Stocking Yarn”, Screen Song cartoon “Readin', Ritin' and Rhythmatic”, and Warner Pathe World News. The second show began at 9:40.
Builders and suppliers included Brimeyer, Grellinger and Rose, Architects (Milwaukee); Holger Pahl, General Contractor and Builder; Ruffalo Decorating Company, Kenosha and Racine; Dave Speaker Electric Company; Victor Manhardt, R.C.A. Equipment; Kenosha Lumber and Coal Company; Theatres Candy Company; Consumers Company Building Materials; Kenosha Boiler and Structural Company; Martin Petersen Sheet Metal Works; Thompson Concrete Block Company; Bouterse and Sons Excavating and Grading; Bill Brittle Well Drilling; Dominick Tirabassi; Rosko Sign Service; Kenosha Glass Company; Industrial Roofing Company; Motiograph Projection and Sound; Krump Construction Company, Milwaukee; White Way Electric Sign Company, Chicago; Cyclone Fence Company, Milwaukee; and Unit Structure, Incorporated.
On the evening the Mid-City Outdoor Theatre opened, WLIP 1050 broadcast the opening ceremonies and the VFW Drum and Bugle Corps performed. The premiere program included “Red River” with Montgomery Clift. The last operator was Standard Theaters, and when a winter wind gust caused the screen tower to list, the town of Somers issued raze-or-repair orders. Standard decided to close before the 1985 season began. On May 1, 1985, the Mid-City screen tower fell to the wrecking ball (along with the neighboring Berryville Grade School) to make way for the Villa Rosa Apartments, but the concession building remained for a few years, open to the winds.
Approx. address for this drive-in was 702 Sheridan Road.
The mid-city drive in was located just a little south of Berryville road on Sherdian road next to Berryville elememtary school. I went to school there from 1953 to 1961. We used to sneak in the theater in trunks of cars or climbing over the fense. The owner let us all walk in for free and gather around a speaker to watch the movies. He was concerned about our safety. That was a great time living on the banks of lake Michigan in a place called Berryville!
Maybe that’s because some other websites keep insisting that the MID-CITY was in Racine. The MID-CITY was in the town of Somers in Kenosha County on Sheridan Road (WI 32, or WI 42 at its 1948 opening), a few hundred feet south of Kenosha County Highway A. Its actual exact numerical address isn’t easily available because the ads just listed the location as “Sheridan Road”, and Somers never had a city directory, and Kenosha’s city directory didn’t extend into Somers. There’s a photo at Wisconsin Theatres www.onelist.com/group/WisconsinTheatres .
Any comments or questions regarding any drive-in theater in Wisconsin, please check out my website at
www.drive-inthruwisconsin.com There you will find photos, original newspaper ads and a whole lot more. Or contact me at I will give you complete and accurate information about Wisconsin drive-in theaters, just ask. Thanks, Charles Bruss
Hey, I know where this is, I used to live in apartments that are now located there. Nope, you can’t tell one bit there used to be a drive-in theater on that spot. In fact, I didn’t know about it until someone that lived nearby told me of it and the fact that previous to the drive-in there was a schoolhouse located somewhere in that area. From photos I’ve seen, I gather I lived near where the projector building once stood. I’ve been told the apartments have had odd settling issues, perhaps due to the terrain once being rows of small hills?
Here are two 1950s era ads from www.drive-inthruwisconsin.com:
http://tinyurl.com/yj7l9f
This was a Standard Theatres operation throughout its life, and was located on north Sheridan Road (WI Hwy. 42, later WI Hwy. 32) just south of Kenosha County Hwy. A in the town of Somers in Kenosha County. The name Mid-City refers to its location (somewhat) midway between Kenosha and Racine to the north. The theatre architects were the Briemeyer-Greilinger and Rose firm, and the first manager was Nick Coston.
A busy steam railroad (The Chicago and NorthWestern) ran along the Mid-City’s western perimeter, making photo opportunities like the famous locomotive-theatre scene possible at the Mid-City into 1956.
Actually the theatre’s demise came about as the result of a late-winter windstorm in early 1984 which caused the ornate art-moderne screenhouse to lean a bit. The town of Somers WI then issued a standard routine raze-or-repair order to Standard Theatres (which also leased the Lake [nee Gateway] in downtown Kenosha) and to everyone’s surprise Standard ordered the screenhouse razed. The rest of the theatre property remained abandoned for several years. In the next decade it was developed into apartment buildings, and no sign remains of the Mid-City Outdoor Theater today.
My father proposed to my mother at this drive in by hiding the ring in a Cracker Jack box.
Sadly it’s now “chicken pen” style condos.
This drive-in opened on April 15, 1949. It closed at the end of the 1984 season. Have any information or photos on this drive-in, please contact me. I’m working on a book project about Wisconsin Drive-in Theatres. Check out my website at: www.drive-inthruwisconsin.com to see how you can help.