Family Drive-In
24 OH-273,
Belle Center,
OH
43310
24 OH-273,
Belle Center,
OH
43310
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previous Names: New Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The second drive-in theatre to open in the Bellefontaine, Ohio area was the New Drive-In, opened by Dale Elleman on April 24, 1953. He was also operating the Bellefontaine Drive-In at this time. Eventually Elleman would be operating the Marysville Drive-In, in Marysville, Ohio, and the Buffalo Drive-In, in Tampa, Florida. The Buffalo was for black people only. The opening night feature of the New Drive-In was the 1951 drama the “Blue Veil” and the second feature was the 1951 drama “The Company She Keeps”. It had a 370 car capacity.
In researching this drive-in, it looks like it was closed in 1956 and 1957. In 1958 the drive-in reopened. Elleman closed the Bellefontaine Drive-In in 1971. Dale Elleman Sr. sold the drive-in property to his son Dale Elleman Jr. on November 23, 1970. Elleman Jr. leased the drive-in out to John Taber who started to screen adult features in 1971. After Taber when bankrupt in 1980, Theatre Confections operated the drive-in and renamed it the Family Drive-In on April 3, 1981. The Family Drive-In closed for good at the end of the season in 1983. The drive-in was demolished and property was sold for industrial and manufacturing.
Contributed by
Randy Studer
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Odd, a 1959 aerial photo from NETR of the drive-in shows that the screen is missing. Although such photos are not the sharpest, there is nothing present where the screen should be standing.
Current address for this theater is 24 OH-273, Belle Center, OH 43310. Part of the entrance road and the outline are still visible.
Please update.