Sundowner Drive-In

E. Fireweed Lane and Gambell Street,
Anchorage, AK 99503

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Wometco Theatres

Nearby Theaters

Sundowner Drive-In

Located next to the indoor Fireweed Theatre (now the Fireweed 7 Cinemas which has its own page on Cinema Treasures), this drive-in opened on March 24, 1966 with Frankie Avalon in “Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine” & Ray Charles in the concert film “The Big T.N.T. Machine”. It was closed in January 1979 with John Travolta in “Grease”. It has since been demolished.

The Sundowner Drive-In was one of three drive-in theatres once located in Anchorage, the other two being the 360 Drive-In and the Billiken Drive-In (both also long gone).

Contributed by Bryan

Recent comments (view all 13 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on September 29, 2007 at 6:56 pm

The 1981 IMPA gives the capacity as 600 cars. Operator was Wometco Theaters at that time. This was the only drive-in listed in Alaska. In 1963 the state didn’t have a listing in the IMPA. In 1970 the Sundowner and the Pillikin Drive-In are listed, both in Anchorage.

SteveNY
SteveNY on April 2, 2009 at 8:29 am

On June 3, 1974 Savoy Brown played an outdoor concert at the Sundowner Drive In. Their opening act was a relatively new band called Kiss!

A stage was built in front of the movie screen. We had to wait until almost 11PM for the show to start since the bands arrived at 10:00 on the Northwest flight from Seattle. The sun didn’t set until midnight so the first part of the show was in daylight.

icecat95
icecat95 on March 11, 2010 at 6:56 pm

I also spent many night at this drive-in…Late nights to be sure but great memories..

If anyone has any phots, would love to see them..

aerogami
aerogami on May 6, 2010 at 1:59 am

Ken mc, that crime story is funny stuff.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on July 29, 2011 at 10:24 am

Ken Mc.great stuff.

Robert L. Bradley
Robert L. Bradley on January 26, 2012 at 7:02 pm

I just wonder how a drive-in could operate in Alaska. In winter, it is too cold to go to a drive-in, and in summer, with so many hours of daylight, I imagine they had to start very late. I worked at drive-ins in Richmond, Virginia, and in the summer it was nine o'clock or later before we could start. And most of our drive-ins closed up in the winter.

pdofak
pdofak on June 30, 2013 at 8:45 pm

saw Mother, Jugs, and Speed there.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 15, 2022 at 6:06 am

Is there anything on this site now?

rivest266
rivest266 on March 31, 2024 at 5:13 pm

Grand opening ad posted.

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