Patchogue Sunrise All Weather Drive In
600 Sunrise Highway,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
600 Sunrise Highway,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
3 people
favorited this theater
The Patchogue Sunrise All Weather Drive-In was opened by Prudential on September 2, 1965 with John Wayne in “The Sons of Katie Elder”. It had spaces for 1,000 cars for the drive in and 750 seats in the indoor theater. The original All Weather concept was that the same film be show indoors and out, albeit at different times. In the 1980’s, under UA, it was not uncommon for the indoor theater to show one film and the drive in portion a double feature with different films.
Land for the venue was originally purchased in 1957 with the assurance that zoning would be changed to allow amusement entertainment. This was done and a permit issued in 1959. However, in 1961 the zoning was changed and the permit rescinded. Court cases followed and were eventually resolved. It is not clear whether the original property was used as the final site.
The theater was closed in 1986 and became the site of the UA Movies at Patchogue. It is believed that the structure of the indoor theater was incorporated into the new multiplex.
Contributed by
robert boehm
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
Uploaded a photo of the shuttered All Weather pylon announcing the coming of the new multiplex.
Opened with “The sons of Katie Elder”. Indoor screen(1 screen, 750 seats).
Closed in 1985. Demolished(except the indoor cinema(and snack bar?)and marquee) in 1986. The multiplex closed in 2007 and demolished in 2008. The site is planned to be condos or townhouses?
The townhouses have been open for sometime. Called the Vineyard.
Grand opening ad posted.
As a kid the 70’s, my parents couldn’t always get a baby-sitter or afford one so when driving through the ticket booth, they had me hide down on the back seat floor to save a couple of bucks. I remember the big metal speaker boxes hung on the window and the gravel, and they didn’t stop the film if it rained. They showed mostly new PG or R-rated movies so my parents went at night and relied on me falling asleep in the back. They’d keep an eye on me but I would occasionally wake-up right in time for something nasty like the sinking severed leg scene in Jaws. I was only 5, it looked real but I knew it was fake so it didn’t bother me. Jaws 2 was the one that gave me nightmares. I think the first flick we saw there was Zardoz and I woke-up for the giant floating head crashing down at the end. That was cool. In ‘77, I saw the poster for The Incredible Melting Man near the snack bar and I wanted to see it so bad but they said no. It was a safe place for families in the 60’s and 70’s but it got seedy and rowdy by the mid-80’s. My friends and I heard about a trail through the woods behind the screen to get in for free and discovered that it was a gay hook-up spot. We actually saw two naked dudes prancing through the woods in the dark carrying a small foam mattress and giggling. These things you don’t forget. Not long before it closed, we heard about a gang-brawl there or something like that and people stopped going. That’s what always seems to eventually happen. You couldn’t have a big open-field drive-in like that today, especially in Patchogue. They occasionally do pop-up screen movie nights in the parking lot behind the church but they have to hire security.
Screen blown down in 1974. Then Damage to screen was from hurricane Gloria 09/27/85
The first film for this DI was A Very Special Favor starring Rock Hudson
The Sons of Katie Elder Was the first film shown at the indoor theater
Halley Drive, is a better address, this maps directly to the location.