Southside Drive-In

The Southside Drive-In was opened on October 21, 1970, featuring the 1970 comedy/drama “1932:The Moonshine War” with Patrick McGoohan, Alan Alda & Richard Widmark. The second feature was the 1969 comic western “Support Your Local Sheriff” with James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan & Harry Morgan. The Southside Drive-In was opened & operated by Floyd Theatres of Haines City, FL. Floyd Theatres also operated the Northside Drive-In and the Edison Theatre. It featured a 600-car parking ramp and a 100 foot wide CinemaScope screen tower.

As Fort Myers grew over the years, land to the south of town was becoming more valuable. Floyd Theatre, who had also invested in other businesses which included real estate holdings and property development, had decided to sell the property. The Southside Drive-In was closed September 21, 1986. It was demolished for a car dealersip (Isuzu). Any further information on this drive-in would be appreciated.

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

Mike Rogers on May 26, 2010 at 11:34 am

I have it parking 200 caes in 1956 and was owned by H.Solomon.

NYozoner on January 24, 2011 at 8:16 pm

Good news and bad news.

The bad news is that aerial photos from 1958 and 1960 showed no drive-in at or near the location listed above, which is currently the site of the Isuzu dealership.

The good news is that a USGS topo map reveals the drive-in to be on the east side of the road, at:

13972 S Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers, FL 33912

The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which was across the highway from the Isuzu dealership.

Here is a 1978 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.

No drive-in gets left behind!

Michael28_1 on August 26, 2013 at 4:55 pm

I know its kinda late responding but the aerial photo showing the drive in is in fact at the location of the car dealership as stated above. The drive-in was located on the west side of US41, not the east as was stated by NYozoner..

Dave Lounder THE DRIVE-IN THEATRE PRESERVATION SOCIETY TheDriveInGuys.com on March 16, 2016 at 6:38 pm

https://youtu.be/yRqDt277krU

Looks like the Drive-In was re-purposed before being razed for a new build?

Drive-In 54 on March 16, 2016 at 7:06 pm

That youtube video is wrong. That was the Starlite Drive-In on it.

Sarah B on November 5, 2022 at 4:03 am

It’s now a Honda dealer

50sSNIPES on June 18, 2023 at 5:27 am

Once operated by Floyd Theatres.