Island Acres Drive-In
1198 W. U.S. Highway 50,
Gunnison,
CO
81230
1198 W. U.S. Highway 50,
Gunnison,
CO
81230
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A June 18, 1955 issue of Boxoffice magazine states:
E.H. Bennington is readying the Island Acres Drive-In at Gunnison for a July 22, 1955 opening with John Ireland in “The Fast and the Furious” & Scott Brady in The Law v’s Billy the Kid". The ozoner will accommodate 320 cars.
From a June 15, 1964 issue:
Gunnison, Colo.- Fred Gerardi, who will receive a degree at Western State College in August, has assumed full management of the West Drive-In and Island Acres Drive-In. For nearly two years, Gerardi was assistant manager to Dick Dudley at both drive-in’s. Gerardi is married and has two children. Dudley, who managed both the West Drive-In and Island Acres Drive-In for six years for Atlas Theatre Corp., resigned from the circuit to devote his full-time to his own Dash-In Drive-In on east Tomiehi Avenue.
It is also listed in at least the 1964 & 1968 editions of the Film Daily Yearbook.
Contributed by
Anthony L. Vazquez-Hernandez
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
The address (at least for Google) of the entrance is W U.S. Hwy 50 & Frontage Rd, Gunnison, CO. The drive-in was located right across the river from the Island Acres Resort, which is still in existence.
Today, the drive-in remains mostly intact with the concession stand/projector booth still standing and the screen partially standing.
http://tinyurl.com/yb59d6sv
A more accurate address for this theater would be 1198 W U.S. Hwy 50, Gunnison, CO 81230. This points to the motel next to the entrance road (Frontage Rd.). The resort is across the river from this location.
Please update.
From the July 30, 1955 Motion Picture Herald:
Edwin Koehler has opened his new 350-car drive-in at Gunnison, Colo., which he has named the Island Acres drive-in.
The Grand Opening for the Island Acres was on Friday, July 22, 1955, based on the top front-page story in that week’s Gunnison News-Champion. The first program was “The Fast and the Furious” (the 1954 version), “The Law vs. Billy the Kid,” and “always a cartoon”.
A 1971 aerial photo shows the drive-in intact and perhaps operational. By 1983, the entrance road was turned into Frontage Road and the drive-in appears to be closed although it remained intact.