Delray Drive-In

2001 N. Federal Highway,
Delray Beach, FL 33483

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Delray Drive-In Ticket Booth

The Delray Drive-in was located on busy US 1 in Delray Beach. If it was anything like most Florida drive-ins, the Delray Drive-In likely closed in 1988. Google Maps shows the lot as vacant, but street view shows a construction fence around the lot. While the theater had been gone for years, a palm-lined driveway remained until the very end.

Contributed by Andy

Recent comments (view all 9 comments)

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on October 12, 2010 at 4:30 pm

Another Drive-in on US 1.Andy, It parked 400 cars and was owned by John L.Stillman.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on December 11, 2010 at 9:44 am

Played day and date with the Ultravision theatre with “HERBIE RIDES AGAIN”,Second Feature was “DUMBO”.

sporridge
sporridge on December 11, 2010 at 9:58 am

A flea market and (IIRC) a few permanent shops helped keep the Delray Drive-In solvent. In the years after the theatre closed and the land was cleared for redevelopment (apparently stalled in the economic downturn), it was redubbed “Delray’s Lost Drive-In Flea Market.”

sporridge
sporridge on December 11, 2010 at 1:01 pm

As with most South Florida drive-ins, the Delray went from first-run features (as Mike Rogers noted with the day-and-date to the Ultravision further south) to second-run, buck-or-two admission status in its later years

sporridge
sporridge on December 20, 2010 at 6:34 pm

Slight revision to comment above: Between the theatre’s closing and its clearing for redevelopment (apparently stalled in the economic downturn), it was redubbed “Delray’s Lost Drive-In Flea Market.”

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 5, 2017 at 1:50 pm

1965 photo added courtesy of Barry Bourgault‎. Delray Drive-in after Hurricane Betsy in 1965.

David_Schneider
David_Schneider on July 30, 2018 at 2:14 pm

Interesting Palm Beach Post article from late July 2018 about the history of drive-ins in Palm Beach County:

“Drive-in Movie Memories: 71 Years of Double Features and Even Death — Only One Drive-in Remains in Palm Beach County: The Lake Worth Drive-In”

Includes photos from the Delray Drive-in (some of employees) and mentions a melee that happened there involving police and also the time reels of “Debbie Does Dallas” were seized by authorities.

It says the Delray Drive-in stopped showing movies in 1988.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on April 30, 2021 at 2:04 pm

Boxoffice, May 2, 1960: “George Sobel has leased the Delray Drive-In, Delray, from Elias Chalhub, who is now operating the Riviera Drive-In, Riviera Beach.”

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on September 15, 2022 at 1:37 pm

In a 2012 story in the Palm Beach Post, William Glenn Mize said that his father, who managed the Delray, and his family lived in a house under the movie screen.

And here’s the Internet Archive link to David Schneider’s now-inaccessible Palm Beach Post story.

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