Airport Drive-In
140 Frederick Lopez Road,
Santa Barbara,
CA
93117
140 Frederick Lopez Road,
Santa Barbara,
CA
93117
3 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Metropolitan Theatres (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Metropolitan Theatres
Previous Names: Air Port Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
Just behind the Cinema Twin Theatres, the remains of the Airport Drive-In Theatre (first listed at 6201 Hollister Avenue, an address that was changed later to 140 Frederick Lopez Road; the Cinema Twin is on Hollister but Frederick Lopez runs perpendicular to that).
The Airport Drive-In was opened in April 1951. The lot is used now for airport parking, but the ticketbooth / gateway still remains, and just outside the far fences can be seen the mounts for the drive-in screen, lingering in the dust and weeds.
Contributed by
MagicLantern
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Those mounts anchored the screen. The backside of the screen faced Hollister Ave and had a beautiful neon sign image of a four prop airplane. That was the first thing to go, then the screen came down a few years later. It was a wonderful place to be. I enjoyed many films there over the years. It is a shame that it has been demolished. The City of Santa Barbara owns the land and is negotiating to build offices or retail buildings on the site.
I have much information about this theatre, I have the blueprints and details of construction.
I grew up in Goleta during the early
60's through high school in the70’s. I remember playing in my pajamas at the Airport Drive-In as a small child and taking my first high school date there in 1976. Like Keith said, the neon plane sign was beautiful and it was very sad to see it go. I now teach Multimedia at Righetti High School in Santa Maria up the road. I have hopes of having my students build a virtual copy of the Airport Drive-In and have emailed Randy with a request for a copy of those blueprints. Hopefully he will get the email and can help out.BTW, our Hi-Way Drive-In is still up and running here in Santa Maria! Took my granddaughter to see Superman Returns there last week.
Adios!
Oops! Should have put my email address in that last comment I posted.
Here is a January 1980 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2nr66u
The Airport Drive-In at Goleta would be “…completed and ready for an opening any day now,” according to an item in the April 7, 1951, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
Woo-hoo, Bruce Lee poser madness!
Referring to the ad.
worked at the Airport Drive-In around 1963 while attending Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. I remember packing the letters for the marquee in a box and using a rope to pull the box up to the the marquee. I sold a lot of sodas and hot dogs. It was a great part time job. Jeff email address:
Now the parking lot for the airport @ 140 Frederick Lopez Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93117.
Please update.