Wyoming Drive-In
9098 Mickelsen Avenue SE,
Albuquerque,
NM
87123
9098 Mickelsen Avenue SE,
Albuquerque,
NM
87123
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Boxoffice, Feb. 11, 1963: “Video Independent Theatres has purchased the Terrace and Duke City drive-ins in Albuquerque. The same organization also has taken over the Wyoming Drive-In, also in Albuquerque”
Boxoffice, Nov. 27, 1961: “The Wyoming Drive-In … was opened on Thanksgiving Day by Tom Griffing, whose Tom Griffing Construction Co. has erected more than 265 outdoor theatres over the nation from Main to Texas. Griffing will operate the new airer, which features two boxoffices, a 120x60-foot screen tower and a four-unit cafeteria-style Snak-Bar, housed in a building 100 feet long. The Wyoming marks Griffing’s return to the drive-in construction field after two years of semiretirement.”
That announcement was premature. The Albuquerque Journal wrote on Jan. 11, 1962 that general manager James T. Griffing said the Wyoming would open at the end of that month. And sure enough, the grand opening ad that rivest found and posted here is from Friday, Jan. 26, 1962. Now I’ve got to correct that in my book. :)
Back then, the drive-in was on Wyoming Avenue, barely within the Albuquerque city limits. The adjacent, co-owned Terrace Drive-In was barely outside the city, which might be why it was a separate drive-in.
Motion Picture Almanacs listed the Wyoming with a capacity of 1000 cars. Its final show was on Sept. 18, 1978.
Why the name Wyoming(it’s a long way from the state of Wyoming)?
Opened with “Where the boys are” and “The wackiest ship in the army”.
A closer address (at least for Google) is 9098 Mickelsen Avenue Southeast, Albuquerque, NM. The drive-in was located right next to the Terrace Drive-In on the west side. Today, the area is a housing development with no trace of the drive-in remaining. http://tinyurl.com/j9eq9j3
This opened on January 26th, 1961. Grand opening ad in photo section.