Centralia Drive-In
1325 W. Broadway,
Centralia,
IL
62801
1325 W. Broadway,
Centralia,
IL
62801
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The Centralia Drive-In, located on West Broadway, opened on April 20 1950, with space for 530 cars. It was designed and operated by Elbert W. Butler & Homer S. Butler Jr.
Later it was operated by the BAC Theatres chain. After closing in the 1970’s, it was torn down, and a K-Mart was built on the site, which opened on July 17, 1980 and closed on June 2, 2002.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
The K-Mart building is also being restored into a home-improvement store (local, not a chain!). And the Historic Illinois Theater in Centralia is being restored to use, by the city.
When did this drive-in close? I can only ever remember the K-Mart store being there along with Kroger, Country Fair and Priced Right supermarkets attached to it.
On March 28, 1953, BoxOffice reported that Lloyd Spurgeon had purchased the Centralia Drive-In “for more than $100,000”. Spurgeon was vice-president of the Centralia Mutual Benefit Association. The sellers were “Elbert W. Butler of Hillsboro and Homer Butler of Centralia, who built the drive-in, which has a capacity of 540 cars and seats for 200 walk-ins.”
The Centralia Drive-In may’ve closed in the 1970s. The Kmart that was built in the theater’s site opened in 1980 and operated until June 2002. A Home Center store now sits in its site.
Update: The Kmart operated from July 17, 1980 until June 2, 2002.