Ronnie's Drive-In
5262 S. Lindbergh Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63126
5262 S. Lindbergh Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63126
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August 3, 1983 demolition photo added courtesy Mark Grotegeers.
Opened with a all colour cartoon review(Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker and Popeye), and “Good news”.
Boxoffice, June 1, 1957: “A tornado which tore through (southern St. Louis County) late on the afternoon of May 22 did more than $5,000 damage to (Ronnie’s). About 1,000 feet of corrugated metal fence was blown down, some pieces being found 2½ miles away. Some small out buildings were blown down and there was some damage to the screen tower, but the drive-in has been able to continue operations.”
In the photos section, there are two pictures that I took of the former Drive-In marquee as it was being used to advertise what was showing at the Ronnie’s 20 (until a tornado took it out). The Marquee stood directly in front of the screen, with the entrance to the right and the exit to the left. Current businesses in the plaza can be seen in one photo to the east (Ronnie’s 20) and to the west (TGI Fridays).
St Louis County is separate from the city of St Louis, and there are a number of incorporated towns in the county as well as quite a bit of unincorporated area throughout the county. Those unincorporated areas are listed as “St Louis”. As an example, I live in the Oakville area, but since it is unincorporated my mailing address is considered “St Louis”.
Indeed, this drive-in site is in Sappington, but that’s just an unincorporated census-designated place in St. Louis County. As jwmovies pointed out, the current indoor Ronnie’s Cinema near the site lists a St. Louis mailing address.
I may be totally “mis-remembering” but I seem to rememebr seeing concerts at Ronnies’s when I was a little kid… and I swear I think I remember seeing the Rolling Stones there, in like 1964. Am I totally off base?
Now Ronnie’s Plaza. Includes Ronnie’s Cine with IMAX.
The address for this Drive-in is 5262 Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63126.
TGIF is next to where the entrance stood. The 20 screen indoor theater is to the east of where the concession stand was located.
Please update.
July 15th, 1948 grand opening ad in photo section.
Lindbergh and Baptist Church roads.
How can I get a copy of this photo of Ronnie’s Drive In?
neinei2
Lots of pics & ads from Ronnie’s D/I here: St. Louis Flashback Movie & Drive-In Theatres
The proper spelling of the venue includes an apostrophe…it should be Ronnie’s. Fred Wehrenberg named the drive-in after his grandson, Ronald Krueger.
Opened: July 15, 1948.
Last night of operation: September 12, 1982.
Screen tower pulled down August 2nd, 1983 with a shopping center soon to be built on the land. By this time, Ronnie had grown up and was president of Wehrenberg Theatres. He said at the occasion: “My first job working in the theatre business was here at Ronnie’s, running the minature train.”
Another source has this drive-in located in Sappington, which is zip code 63126. As that source also mentions a 1948 opening, my hunch is that this drive-in was on some land contiguous with the two cities.