To clarify other entries…the original Arden Fair 4 (which I attended several times, by the way) was approximately in the spot where J.C. Penney is today. When UA took over the theatre, they expanded it with 2 large auditoriums, with 70MM capability (saw “Return of the Jedi” and “Batman” in 70MM during its initial runs there). When it was expanded you had to enter through a new main entrance in the rear of the mall while a long hallway would take you to the original 4 screens. When the current UA theatre opened several years later, the original was closed for the expansion to what Arden Fair Mall is today, a two-story shopping complex.
To clear the air a little bit…yes, the theatre mentioned here is indeed not what became today’s Regal IMAX cinemas. The triplex was next to what is now the Parkway Bowl on Fletcher Parkway, a few blocks from where the Regal is now. I have been to this theatre, and indeed the auditoriums were small, by today’s standards. The screen I saw (at least one auditorium) had stereo sound (sounded like AM stereo).
Today a Boardwalk indoor amusement park is on the former theatre site. In fact, if you look closely in most of the rooms, you can detect where the former auditoriums were.
This photo was taken after the Sky View’s closure—-you can see the foundation of the Snack Bar which was torn down. But just imagine yourself back in time when it was a triple screener from the early 70s until it’s 1988 closure.
This photo was taken circa the early 1960s, when it was a twin screener. The North Screen (the original screen) is above, while the expanded South Screen, which generally had the bigger hits, is below.
Update on the former site…most of the property is now being used, assuring that it will never again be a multi-screen drive in theatre. The area where Screen 2 (the South Screen) was has now been graded. I assume the Strawn family, the Skyview’s owners, still holds what is left of the property. A very small trace of the drive in (a bit of Screens 1 and 3) remain but have not yet been graded, and obviously the screens have been brought down. A very tiny remnant, considering it has been nearly 70 years since it was built, and over 30 since its demise.
As of this writing, Gladys Strawn is still alive in her 90s, while her husband Glenn has passed away.
If there is anyone who has any film snipes that was used at the Skyview, please come forward.
The indoor theatre, in its last days, showed Mexican movies, but by around 1976 it was shuttered. The drive in, however, did show triple features on a seasonable basis until towards the end of the ‘70s when they showed more family-oriented fare (Disney, for example) before closing for good around September, 1979 (a number of drive-ins in the Sacramento area also closed, such as the Starlite and Fruitridge).
But this theatre’s closing was not the end of the story. The theatre’s owner, United Artists Theatres, continued to own the site for many years after its demolition. They had intended to build a new indoor plex, but it was not to be. A warehouse was eventually built on a large chunk of the site, while the back where the drive in screen was became a mini-arcade. Both eventually closed. Today another swap meet warehouse stands on the former site.
To clarify other entries…the original Arden Fair 4 (which I attended several times, by the way) was approximately in the spot where J.C. Penney is today. When UA took over the theatre, they expanded it with 2 large auditoriums, with 70MM capability (saw “Return of the Jedi” and “Batman” in 70MM during its initial runs there). When it was expanded you had to enter through a new main entrance in the rear of the mall while a long hallway would take you to the original 4 screens. When the current UA theatre opened several years later, the original was closed for the expansion to what Arden Fair Mall is today, a two-story shopping complex.
To clear the air a little bit…yes, the theatre mentioned here is indeed not what became today’s Regal IMAX cinemas. The triplex was next to what is now the Parkway Bowl on Fletcher Parkway, a few blocks from where the Regal is now. I have been to this theatre, and indeed the auditoriums were small, by today’s standards. The screen I saw (at least one auditorium) had stereo sound (sounded like AM stereo).
Today a Boardwalk indoor amusement park is on the former theatre site. In fact, if you look closely in most of the rooms, you can detect where the former auditoriums were.
This is the Sky View in its original form, circa late 1950s. Both the entrance and snack bar are in different locations.
This photo was taken after the Sky View’s closure—-you can see the foundation of the Snack Bar which was torn down. But just imagine yourself back in time when it was a triple screener from the early 70s until it’s 1988 closure.
This photo was taken circa the early 1960s, when it was a twin screener. The North Screen (the original screen) is above, while the expanded South Screen, which generally had the bigger hits, is below.
Update on the former site…most of the property is now being used, assuring that it will never again be a multi-screen drive in theatre. The area where Screen 2 (the South Screen) was has now been graded. I assume the Strawn family, the Skyview’s owners, still holds what is left of the property. A very small trace of the drive in (a bit of Screens 1 and 3) remain but have not yet been graded, and obviously the screens have been brought down. A very tiny remnant, considering it has been nearly 70 years since it was built, and over 30 since its demise.
As of this writing, Gladys Strawn is still alive in her 90s, while her husband Glenn has passed away.
If there is anyone who has any film snipes that was used at the Skyview, please come forward.
Actually the indoor theatre was never twinned. It was always one theatre.
The indoor theatre, in its last days, showed Mexican movies, but by around 1976 it was shuttered. The drive in, however, did show triple features on a seasonable basis until towards the end of the ‘70s when they showed more family-oriented fare (Disney, for example) before closing for good around September, 1979 (a number of drive-ins in the Sacramento area also closed, such as the Starlite and Fruitridge).
But this theatre’s closing was not the end of the story. The theatre’s owner, United Artists Theatres, continued to own the site for many years after its demolition. They had intended to build a new indoor plex, but it was not to be. A warehouse was eventually built on a large chunk of the site, while the back where the drive in screen was became a mini-arcade. Both eventually closed. Today another swap meet warehouse stands on the former site.