From a post on the Hi-Way Drive-In’s Facebook page:
“It is with great sadness that we are announcing the closing of the Hi-Way Drive-In. Our last two movie nights will be this Wednesday and Thursday, January 5th & 6th. Spiderman will be playing on both nights.
We are extremely grateful to all our wonderful and loyal customers for over the past 43 years. We are especially grateful to all our current and past employees.
Due to the current economic climate and the ever-changing film industry, our business as a drive-in theater is unfortunately no longer viable.
Thank you for all the good years! With much appreciation and a heavy heart….
I don’t think the theater reopened. The showtimes that appear on Bigscreen.com are identical to those at the Showplace North 9 (compared them to Fandango). Also, if you count the number of shows per set, there are more than seven screens worth of showtimes. Might be that showtimes were pushed to the wrong location and Bigscreen.com just picked them up.
I don’t think this is a picture of the new Roseville Galleria. All the photos I’ve seen online do not use the traditional Cinemark logo but instead the more plain font lettering.
I wish I could find an actual photo of this theater. Long before I was fascinated by movie theaters I saw Jurassic Park here while on vacation to visit the Football Hall of Fame with my brother. I remember buying tickets at the box office in one building and then walking down the parking lot and entering an entirely separate building for our movie. Definitely my first time experiencing detached cinemas. I was only 15 at the time and wasn’t really paying close attention to the theater itself, but now that I hear the main building was a Jerry Lewis design, it makes sense that they would have had to build a big auditorium in a separate building.
My impression of Frank Theaters was that by the time they got involved, the theater was already doomed. This always leads me to wonder if it’s better to leave a theater empty and abandoned; or let it have one last hurrah doing what it was built to do, even if it’s painful to witness.
The theater never did particularly well and with the Greyhound station across the street had lots of issues with transients. Was a nice theater though, I always enjoyed when I had to work there.
I think the Albright address is incorrect. If you search the Rock Hill Herald for “York Plaza” it gives an address of 2349 Cherry Road which coincides with a comment somebody made on the page for the “Cinema” that states that the Mini Cinema was in a shopping center on Cherry Road.
This theater did open as a 16-screen theater. I’m not certain, but if you check historicaerials.com you’ll see that the left side of the theater has been modified since it opened. The “BigD” auditorium was built after the fact so it’s probable that they reduced screen count from 16 to 14 when that happened.
If you lookup the address at HistoricAerials.com you’ll see that the building that was there in the 1998 photo is oriented diagonally to the road vs. the current building that is parallel to the road. It would suggest to me that they are not the same building.
Favorite Cinemas was Muvico’s discount brand. So that they wouldn’t have to explain that not all Muvico locations were fancy first run theatres, they just branded them “Favorite Cinemas”
A photo of this theater appears Showplace Cinemas' website assigned to their theater in Princeton, IN. The trees behind this theater do not exist in the other picture, which is also attached to a shopping center that appears to still be standing.
If they’re actually renovating I’d be interested in seeing this with the new Cineworld orange and black disco theme… would be interesting. I always liked the exterior of this theater, one of the last unique UA builds I can recall.
For the record it was never “West Wind Drive-In” it was always the “Santa Barbara Drive-In”, it just so happened to be owned by West Wind Drive-Ins so the logos may have been prevalent.
Google shows this is the site of the “Palm Springs Flea Market & Food Fest” which somehow doesn’t surprise me. Many Drive-Ins doubled as flea markets during the day.
From a post on the Hi-Way Drive-In’s Facebook page:
“It is with great sadness that we are announcing the closing of the Hi-Way Drive-In. Our last two movie nights will be this Wednesday and Thursday, January 5th & 6th. Spiderman will be playing on both nights. We are extremely grateful to all our wonderful and loyal customers for over the past 43 years. We are especially grateful to all our current and past employees.
Due to the current economic climate and the ever-changing film industry, our business as a drive-in theater is unfortunately no longer viable.
Thank you for all the good years! With much appreciation and a heavy heart….
Sincerely
The Gran Family"
Actually, last shows appear to have been on ½/2022.
If we’re going to be thorough, the previous chains should include Loews and General Cinema.
An article in the TUE 2/13/2001 edition of the Sacramento Bee reported that the theater’s last day was that previous Sunday (2/11)
I don’t think the theater reopened. The showtimes that appear on Bigscreen.com are identical to those at the Showplace North 9 (compared them to Fandango). Also, if you count the number of shows per set, there are more than seven screens worth of showtimes. Might be that showtimes were pushed to the wrong location and Bigscreen.com just picked them up.
I don’t think this is a picture of the new Roseville Galleria. All the photos I’ve seen online do not use the traditional Cinemark logo but instead the more plain font lettering.
@dallasmovietheaters Do you mind if I use this for our banner photo at the Cinematour Facebook group? I love me some GCC.
I wish I could find an actual photo of this theater. Long before I was fascinated by movie theaters I saw Jurassic Park here while on vacation to visit the Football Hall of Fame with my brother. I remember buying tickets at the box office in one building and then walking down the parking lot and entering an entirely separate building for our movie. Definitely my first time experiencing detached cinemas. I was only 15 at the time and wasn’t really paying close attention to the theater itself, but now that I hear the main building was a Jerry Lewis design, it makes sense that they would have had to build a big auditorium in a separate building.
This no longer appears on Phoenix Theatre’s website and has is now just the Cherokee Cinemas.
My impression of Frank Theaters was that by the time they got involved, the theater was already doomed. This always leads me to wonder if it’s better to leave a theater empty and abandoned; or let it have one last hurrah doing what it was built to do, even if it’s painful to witness.
Looks like the building was demolished for a Walmart
The theater never did particularly well and with the Greyhound station across the street had lots of issues with transients. Was a nice theater though, I always enjoyed when I had to work there.
Theater is not listed on Regal’s website and google is showing permanently closed.
I think the Albright address is incorrect. If you search the Rock Hill Herald for “York Plaza” it gives an address of 2349 Cherry Road which coincides with a comment somebody made on the page for the “Cinema” that states that the Mini Cinema was in a shopping center on Cherry Road.
This theater did open as a 16-screen theater. I’m not certain, but if you check historicaerials.com you’ll see that the left side of the theater has been modified since it opened. The “BigD” auditorium was built after the fact so it’s probable that they reduced screen count from 16 to 14 when that happened.
Looks very similar to the Tower in Sacramento, also designed by William B David.
If you lookup the address at HistoricAerials.com you’ll see that the building that was there in the 1998 photo is oriented diagonally to the road vs. the current building that is parallel to the road. It would suggest to me that they are not the same building.
Favorite Cinemas was Muvico’s discount brand. So that they wouldn’t have to explain that not all Muvico locations were fancy first run theatres, they just branded them “Favorite Cinemas”
A photo of this theater appears Showplace Cinemas' website assigned to their theater in Princeton, IN. The trees behind this theater do not exist in the other picture, which is also attached to a shopping center that appears to still be standing.
If they’re actually renovating I’d be interested in seeing this with the new Cineworld orange and black disco theme… would be interesting. I always liked the exterior of this theater, one of the last unique UA builds I can recall.
Based on the grand opening ad, this has always been a dollar cinema, showing discount movies.
For the record it was never “West Wind Drive-In” it was always the “Santa Barbara Drive-In”, it just so happened to be owned by West Wind Drive-Ins so the logos may have been prevalent.
Starts appearing in the Asbury Park Press around 1970 as a Music Makers Theater. Was eventually sold to Loews and closed in 1994.
I enjoy that the font in the “Carriage Sq 5” logo at the top of the ad almost reads “Carnage Sq 5”
Google shows this is the site of the “Palm Springs Flea Market & Food Fest” which somehow doesn’t surprise me. Many Drive-Ins doubled as flea markets during the day.
https://palmspringsfleamarketandfoodfest.com/