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 9, 2012 at 10:08 am

1970 aerial photo posted here.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 2, 2017 at 9:29 am

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

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on May 30, 2018 at 2:54 pm

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 2:54 pm

And possibly a house too?

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on May 30, 2018 at 2:55 pm

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

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 5, 2019 at 9:21 am

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 2, 2019 at 2:04 am

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 9:19 pm

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 11, 2021 at 2:59 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 2, 2021 at 8:40 am

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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