East 70 Drive-In
12819 E. Colfax Avenue,
Aurora,
CO
80011
12819 E. Colfax Avenue,
Aurora,
CO
80011
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Wolfberg Theatres
Previous Names: Drive-In, East Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
Opened on July 4, 1947 as the Drive-In. The opening movies were Groucho Marx in “A Night in Casablanca” & Gale Storm in “Sunbonnet Sue”. In 1948 it was renamed East Drive-In. I lived behind the East Drive-In when it was in full operation (1955-1964). Many of us worked there during the summer washing windshields for tips and walking the back rows to clear out stragglers.
We had many a play hour there during the day, since the layout was quite amenable to go-karts. We would race from Colfax Street to the entrance booth and whip around the corner into the vast sea of speakers on poles. It was closed in 1990.
I happened to drive by on a visit to Aurora the day the wrecking crew was committing architectural homicide on the place and felt a genuine loss. I’m sure it was living on life support, but I still hated to see it go.
The North, South, East, West and Monaco drive-ins were part of the Compass chain of theatres when I was there. The East 70 Drive-In had an 850 car capacity.
Contributed by
John Gillen
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Recent comments (view all 37 comments)
Maybe the 70 in East 70 drive in name came from Colfax Avenue being the I-70 Business loop thru metro Denver.
Hi MontyM – I thought the new East 70 had a connection with I-70 too until I was doing research for a series of books I’m putting together on the history of the Denver area’s drive-ins and theatres. Turns out the “70” was added to the name on 5/11/65 after the installation of a new 70mm screen. I-70 was built a few years later. Another fun fact – the East was simply referred to as “Drive-In Theatre” when it first opened on 7/4/47. It was given the East name shortly after it opened its second season in April 1948. If anyone reading this has questions about drive-ins or theatres, please feel free to get in touch. I’d be happy to share my research with you. Thanks ! .
The April 14, 1990 Rocky Mountain News had a short article about Steven Vannoy, who heard that the East was going to be demolished so he cleaned it up and opened it for that season as The East Drive-In Revisited. He added FM radio and armed guards, and planned to build volleyball courts.
The address was listed as 12819 E. Colfax Ave.
This note, from Billboard Aug. 14, 1954, could be posted on any Wolfberg drive-in: “Unseasonably hot weather has boosted drive-in business in the Denver area with nearly a dozen theaters making a bid for the trade. At Wolfberg’s Compass theaters, the Fuller Bros.‘ Drive-In Circus has been making a three-week stay, moving from one theater to another. Show has 30 performers who put on 10 acts. This attraction is in addition to full-length double bills, comedies and short subjects.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 17, 1947: “The newly organized Denver Drive-In Theatre Corp., headed by John Wolfberg and Harold Cohen, is building Denver’s first drive-in. Costing $115,000, the theatre will be a 750-car affair, to open about June 1.”
Boxoffice, July 25, 1977: “DENVER – The East 70 Drive-In, which is Colorado’s first outdoor theatre, celebrated its 30th birthday this summer. … The East 70 opened July 4, 1947, with the double feature “A Night in Casablanca” and “Sunbonnet Sue” at a cost of 60 cents for adults and free admission for children, according to the Sunday Denver Post.”
The site might now be the car park for the Childrens Hospital Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus(it’s fan shaped like the drive-in’s ramps)?
Thanks to HistoricAerials.com’s easy-to-use tools, we know that the East’s ramps persisted on the south side of Colfax through a 2011 aerial photo, but became a surface parking lot by 2013. The lot it became appears perfectly rectangular in my eyes, both in overall shape and in its rows of parking spaces. The fan-shaped lot is much closer to the hospital, on the other side of Colfax.
Opened with “A night in Casablanca” and “Sunbonnet Sue”.
I’ve put together a booking history for the East Drive-in, from 1947 up to 1978 so far, in case anyone might like to know when a particular movie played there. I’ll be happy to share my research with you. Take care – Ken Mitchell ()