Airline Drive-In
1800 W. Highland Avenue,
Ponca City,
OK
74601
1800 W. Highland Avenue,
Ponca City,
OK
74601
5 people
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The Airline Drive-In opened its gates on July 3, 1953 with Edmond O'Brien in “Silver City” (unknown if any extras added but a fireworks show was displayed after the movie) and was first managed by Don R. Hall.
The original screen didn’t last long. The screen itself was destroyed by destructive 75 MPH winds during a severe weather outbreak on August 27, 1954. The extensive of the tower was leveled and fragments of the screen and timber were hurled across the highway and scattered over a pasture 100ft away. Scrambled mounds of debris were littered all around the highway until theater employees were managed to clean it up. The screen was eventually replaced by a super-steel CinemaScope tower at the start of the 1955 season.
Google maps show the drive-in has been demolished and replaced with a housing edition.
The only reminder is the main street is named “Airline Drive”.
Ron Stahl of the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department, in a column carried by the Okmulgee Daily Times on June 27, 2007: “The comeback story belongs to the Airline Drive-In on West Highland in Ponca City. The venerable old theatre near the airport endured an ignoble decade of disuse before it was re-opened, refurbished, and rediscovered by outdoor movie lovers.”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The EXHIBITOR: “Video Independent Theatres opened the Sooner Drive-In, Miami, Okla., and the Airline Drive-In, Ponca City, Okla.”
It is to bad they cannot rebuild it and open it up for screening movies all summer.
The Drive-In re-opened for a few final showings. It will be demolished soon, but the community of Ponca City came out in droves to see “God is Not Dead”. http://tinyurl.com/oq29u96
3 Photos I took back in July of 2010 of the Airline Drive In Theatre.. Enjoy..
Randy A Carlisle – Historical Photographer
Recent photos of the closed down Airline Drive-In can be seen on this fun site …
http://www.abandonedok.com/airline-drive-in/
CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED
What roadsideoklahoma says about the Airline Drive-In,
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Good news! The Airline is open. The show starts at dusk. Call (580) 762-65645 for details.
This one’s huge! My wife and I discovered this one this summer. Again, if you love Drive-ins, don’t miss it! This one’s not as fancy as the Beacon in Guthrie, but it’s fun.