Valley Drive-In
2212 E. Main Street,
Farmington,
NM
87401
2212 E. Main Street,
Farmington,
NM
87401
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The Valley Drive-In was opened on August 11, 1954, with Alan Ladd in “The Iron Mistress” & George Montgomery in “The Texas Rangers”. It was operated by Russell Allen & Kenneth Crawford. Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook’s until at least 1968.
The theatre is now demolished, and a storage unit now occupies the site.
Contributed by
A.L. Vazquez-Hernandez
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Found It!
The drive-in entrance was located at 2212 E Main St,
Farmington, NM.
Today, most of the property is now Valley Storage. A Bank of America and a Spa dealership straddle the old entrance. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
http://tinyurl.com/ycn3sz7c
(Note: The drive-in mentioned in the description appears to be the Apache, which was demolished and replaced by a Wal-Mart.)
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 14, 1954: “Russell Allen is building a 350-car drive-in, with CinemaScope, at Farmington, N. M., and hopes to have it in operation by Sept. 1.”
The May 7, 1955 issue of Boxoffice included a full-page story on the Valley, with photos, about owners Russell P. Allen and Kelly P. Crawford built it with lessons learned “from the operation of the Apache Drive-In which they opened three years earlier”.
Boxoffice, Jan. 6, 1958: “Russell Allen and Kelly Crawford are staring their third drive-in at Farmington, N. M. The new ozoner, to be named the Oasis, will accommodate 986 cars, and employ all of the latest improvements. … It will be located on a new highway being built into the city. The Apache was built in 1952, and was expanded into a twin last year, and the Valley was finished in 1954.”
I just posted the Valley’s opening night newspaper ad from August 11, 1954. Its first program was “Iron Mistress” with Alan Ladd and “The Texas Rangers” with George Montgomery.