Parkwood Auto Movies
31260 Oat Valley Road,
Cloverdale,
CA
95425
31260 Oat Valley Road,
Cloverdale,
CA
95425
1 person
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William Blair, who operated downtown Cloverdale’s Blair Theatre, launched the Parkwood Auto Movies Drive-In on July 21, 1960 with a double feature of “Portrait in Black” starring Lana Turner and “Too Soon for Love” (Teenage Lovers) starring Jennifer West. Free orchids were provided for females on opening night and the kids got free ice cream. The theatre had a screen size of 68' in height and 105' in width. KJAX radio did a live remote from the gala opening.
The drive-in was short-lived and went out of business after just four seasons. The final weekend of operation was cut short by one day due to the JFK assassination. The Parkwood Auto Movies closed for November 23, 1963 with a triple feature of “Blood Feast”, “Naked Spur”, and “Killer Ape”. The former drive-in hosted a rodeo the following summer. The screen tower was eventually demolished.
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dallasmovietheaters
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The site was sufficiently intact (or the map folks were sufficiently slow to notice) that the drive-in was still included in a 1968 topo map. Its screen was just south of Oak Valley Creek. Its long driveway, projection building and traces of the ramps (but not the screen) were still visible in a 1983 aerial photo.
To better reflect that the Parkwood was at the northwest corner of Oat Valley Road and Cooley Lane, a better address for its entrance is 31260 Oat Valley Road.
The ramps and projection building or foundation of it lasted until 2017/18 when the entire lots soil had been regraded for agricultural use.