Bel-Air Drive-In

2529 W. Locust Street,
Davenport, IA 52804

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Bel-Air Drive-In

The Bel-Air Drive-In located in Davenport opened July 14, 1948 with Gale Storm in “It Happened on 5th Avenue”. It was closed in 1986. It had a capacity for 700 cars.

Contributed by Lost Memory

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

rivest266
rivest266 on June 8, 2012 at 8:08 pm

1970 aerial photo posted here.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 1, 2017 at 7:29 pm

July 14th, 1948 Grand opening ad in photo section.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on May 30, 2018 at 12:54 am

The ramps and fences(and gate or gates?) may still be there there? The site may now used as a fairground and a parking site for the fairground?

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on May 30, 2018 at 12:54 am

And possibly a house too?

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on May 30, 2018 at 12:55 am

The entrance(and/or the exit?) roads may still be there too?

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 4, 2019 at 6:21 pm

April 23, 1950 article about Bel Air Drive-In owner Julius Geertz. Article will enlarge within link.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16rxpNJvHc1YLLprOg1xW9S0rvYK2PZ3M/view?fbclid=IwAR2TqA4-WkK5VoYFulnZcV1t-CYaZNaCnK-6riCNXQdCCZ5mrioMI_8WSqE

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on October 1, 2019 at 12:04 pm

March 25, 1964 Motion Picture Exhibitor: Walter Allen, Maquoketa, has purchased the Bel-Air Drive-In, Davenport, from George Dinelli, Peru, Ill. Allen, who also operates the Corral Drive-In, Moline, Ill., plans some renovating at the Davenport Drive-In.

kennerado
kennerado on October 8, 2019 at 6:19 am

The entrance/exit road still exits, the gates still exist – what looks like the base of the street sign still exists and also possibly the base or partial base of the screen structure.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on January 10, 2021 at 10:59 am

The Dispatch of Moline IL reported on April 3, 1956 that earlier that day, high winds had blown down “an addition to the movie screen at the Bel-Air Drive-In Theater,” causing minor injury to 5-year-old Bradley Zoeckler, son of Bel-Air employee Richard Zoeckler.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on June 1, 2021 at 6:40 pm

The Dispatch (Moline IL), March 28, 1970: “Davenport’s Bel Air Drive-in movie theater, first in the Quad-City region when it was built, was sold yesterday. National Amusements, Inc., owner of the Memri, Semri and Oasis drive-in theaters in the Quad-Cities, bought the Bel Air from Allen-Franklin Theater Corp. The Bel-Air opened in 1945 at the location in the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds complex.”

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