Arcata Drive-In

1635 Heindon Road,
Arcata, CA 95521

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dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on April 10, 2021 at 7:09 pm

The Maribel Drive-In Theater was launched by and named for Mary Bell who operated the venue along with her husband, Walter Bell. It opened on June 27, 1957 with Randolph Scott in “7th Calvary” and Dale Robertson in “Sitting Bull.” It had a 6,600 square foot Manco Vision screen promising a 300% brighter picture. Under new operators, it was renamed the Arcata Theatre when it reopened for the season on April 28, 1960. It likely closed at the end of a 30-year lease in 1987.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on January 17, 2020 at 6:02 pm

Boxoffice, July 27, 1957: “Walter Bell recently opened his new 600-car drive-in just north of Arcata in northern California. The $140,000 operation covers ten acres. Bell opened his first "airdome” theatre back in 1911. It cost a total of $225 and seated 96 persons on wooden benches. It proved so profitable that Bell built four others on the prairie in Kansas. Later he moved to Humboldt County, Calif., and built three theatres in a span of five years."

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on May 12, 2019 at 10:12 pm

The 1956 aerial showed an empty field. It’s there by 1972 and gone by 1989 even though a 1988 topo map shows its outline.

Motion Picture Almanac drive-in list mentions:

  • 1960-61: Meribel Drive-In, capacity 500, owner Walter Bell

  • 1962-66: Arcata Drive-In, 500, Theatre Management
  • 1967-76: Arcata, 500 (no owner info)
  • 1977-82: Arcata, 500, M. Thomas
  • 1983-88: Arcata, 1 screen, R. Rickard

    • By the way, the MPA eventually added a second drive-in in Arcata, though it could have been the decades-old Midway that was between Arcata and Eureka.

    • 1985-88: Midway, 1 screen, R. Rickard

    The North Coast Journal wrote on March 26, 2009 that Bob Rickard’s career “included running the 299 Drive-in in Willow Creek then the Arcata and Midway drive-ins”.

    Kenmore
    Kenmore on May 12, 2019 at 2:12 pm

    A closer address (at least for Google Maps) is 1635 Heindon Rd, Arcata, CA. This is the current address of the Arcata Chamber of Commerce which sits at the front of the old entrance road to the drive-in.

    Today, the chamber, a couple of federal offices, and a trailer park sit on the property. There is no trace of the drive-in remaining.

    https://tinyurl.com/y5wjejrl