South Drive-In
3050 S. High Street,
Columbus,
OH
43207
3050 S. High Street,
Columbus,
OH
43207
6 people
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Launched May 11, 1950 with Roy Rogers in “Down Dakota Way” and Francis, the Talking Mule in “Francis.”
The first day of 2-screen operation at the South Drive-In was April 6, 1979.
Looks like the South was right about its opening date. The May 13, 1950 issue of BoxOffice reported, “The South Drive-In, Columbus, owned by Milton Yassenoff, will be ready for opening soon. It is a new operation and accommodates approximately 500 cars.”
The South’s history page says it opened in 1950. Then again, it says it was twinned in 1987, but the 1984 Motion Picture Almanac already showed it with two screens. Here’s the data dump from my Theatre Catalogs and Motion Picture Almanacs:
1949-50 TC: not listed
1952 TC: Milton Yassenoff, capacity 550.
1953-54 MPA: Milton Yassenoff, 700.
1955-56 TC: Milton Yassenoff, 750.
1959-63 MPA: Milton Yassenoff, 700.
1969-76 MPA: not listed (but I saw a 1969 newspaper that still showed the South)
1982 MPA: Rainbow Ent., 750.
1984-88 MPA: Rainbow Ent., two screens.
This is their website but it is not much to speak of. Their facebook page is much better.
A bit misleading, nearly 1100 speakers were NOT stolen, just the wire for them. Sounds like a good opportunity to install some sort of burglar alarm system in that place.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, 1500 of the 1800 speaker wires (from pole to speaker) were cut, apparently for the copper. 3 people were seen on security cameras at about 4:30 in the morning. The wire would be worth about $300. The theatre will restore the speaker wire.
Wow, thieves steal nearly 1,100 speakers from the theater:
http://www.nbc4i.com/story/22833761/1060-speakers-stolen-from-drive-in-theater
When I was doing drive-in speaker repair, I used 6 feet of 18-2 stranded outdoor wire per speaker. I bought the wire in bulk rolls from Home Depot.
Yup, it’s posted on their facebook page about the speaker vandalism:
https://www.facebook.com/Southdrivein
Breaking News: Vandals cut most of the speaker wires at the South drive-in.
Opening for the season on April 26 with digital projection on both screens.
Glad to see they are making the digital switch. I was worried they would just sell the land and move on. Nice to see Central Ohio keeping its one remaining drive-in.
news from Facebook that The south drive-in is starting its digital switch soon. Good to hear.
As for the 1955 opening date, their website says 2010 is their 60th anniversary year.
This is their website, plain as it may be:
http://www.drive-inmovies.com/
Theatre opened on 4/30/2010 for the season.
This theatre will celebrate its 60th birthday on 5/11/2010. Opening features in 1950 were DOWN DAKOTA WAY with Roy Rogers & FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE.
The South Drive-In will probably survive longer than expected for two reasons:
1 – They are the last of a dying breed. During the portion of summer when school is also out, they show movies 7 nights/week on both screens. During the remaining portion of the movie season they show movies on Friday and Saturday nights. Also, as someone mentioned previously, they sell out or come close to it almost every weekend evening they are open!
2 – They operate the area as a flea market in the off season, renting “space” to local vendors at a fair price. Vendors line up into the street as early as 5 am to ensure a space, as they tend to fill up quickly.
The South Drive-In is still open as of the summer of 2009.
They usually shut down for the season in September or very early October.
Are movies still shown here? The marquee in that photo advertises only a flea market.
In the late 1960s and early 70s, the Columbus area had so many drive-ins that the Columbus Dispatch printed a whole separate section of movie listings for them. There was the Eastside, the 40 East, the Linden Air, Miles North High, Miles East Main, the Kingman, and many others whose names I no longer remember.