Fairway Drive-In

The C & B Drive-In was opened by Thomas Coines and George Brown. Both men emigrated from Greece and met each other in Chicago, Il. They became business partners in theatres in Coshocton and Dresden, OH. After closing the theatres in those towns, the pair operated the Luna Theatre in Byesville, OH. While operating the Luna Theatre, they built and opened the C & B Drive-In Theatre on July 16, 1949. They screened the 1948 musical-comedy “Two Guys from Texas” with Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson and Dorothy Malone along with a cartoon and musical. It had a car capacity of 308 cars. Sometimes it was advertised as the See & Bee Drive-In Theatre after it first opened.

In June of 1959, Shea Theatre Corp., which was affiliated with Jamestown Amusement Co., Inc. of New York, NY, bought the C & B Drive-In. A new wide screen was added and new lenses were purchased for screening movies in CinemaScope. The concession stand was remodeled along with all new in-a-car speakers being installed. Both Coines and Brown held various positions in the Shea Theatre Corp. after selling the drive-in theatre. The C & B Drive-In was renamed to the Fairway Drive-In since it was located across from the Cambridge County Club. The Fairway Drive-In reopened with free admission on July 2, 1959, screening the 1957 biography-drama “Battle Hymn” with Rock Hudson and Martha Hyer. The second feature was the 1956 western “Walk the Proud Land” with Audie Murphy, Anne Bancroft and Pat Crowley. William Kibrige will be the new manager for the Fairway Drive-In and also for the State Theatre, a hard top theatre which was operated by Shea Theatre Corp.

In 1962, the drive-in was holding outdoor worship services each Sunday through July and August. It was sponsor by Main Avenue and Trinity Methodist Churches. The Fairway Drive-In closed for the season on September 28, 1973, and their movie advertisement said “see you next spring” but they never did reopen. Apparently Brown, Coines and Shea Theatres Corp. did not own the “bottom half” of the drive-in theatre property. They just leased it. It was owned, I think, by Ruth Vincent, who died in August 1971. I would have to do a title search of the property to verify it. It was now owned by Ray Vincent Silver Springs, MD. After three years of problems with the purchase of the land and surveys, it was bought by the Guernsey County Board of Mental Health Retardation to be used for a school for $75,000. In November of 1975, the Guernsey County Commissioners put bids for the sale of one outdoor movie screen and metal framing. It is now the location of Guernsey Industries and Guernsey County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

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