I-44 Drive-In
49 Old Elam Avenue,
Valley Park,
MO
63088
49 Old Elam Avenue,
Valley Park,
MO
63088
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Wehrenberg Theatres
Firms: Gordon & Wilson Architects
Nearby Theaters
This was the last drive-in that Wehrenberg Theatres opened. It opened March 31, 1972 and accommodated 850 cars. The screen was visible from Interstate 44 and you could see the movie as you passed by from the highway. It closed on September 23, 1984 and is now a land fill. The screen finally came down in 2001.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
I used to fight sleep driving home from a day at Six Flags St. Louis just to catch a glimpse of what was playing on this theatre’s screen.
Love it,Chris.
Piccione Enterprises…weren’t they the same family that ran the Varsity Theater in U City? I believe Wehrenberg did booking for that theater, as well as the Apollo when Grace Piccione operated that place.
@Cholla: I know the I-44 was a storage lot for trucks and trailers for a while after it closed…and there may have been another business operating out of the lot for a while, but I don’t remember a swap meet ever being there. But that’s just my recollection…maybe someone else can confirm or set the record straight.
March 31st, 1972 grand opening ad in photo section.
Now Peerless Park Demolition. No longer in Peerless Park.
The address for this Drive-in is now 49 Old Elam Ave, Valley Park, MO 63088.
Please update.
To amplify JAlex’s comment, the I-44’s final ad in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was Sunday, Sept. 23, 1984.
The Motion Picture Almanac drive-in lists always had the I-44’s capacity at 200 cars.
Opened with “Diamonds are forever”, “A fustful of dollars” and “House of 1000 dolls”. What a pity, that this site has now been trashed!!
When the drive-in was operating it was in Peerless Park. Peerless Park was not disincorporated until 1998, some 14 years after the drive-in closed.
Not that the MPA was super-accurate, but I don’t know why it always had the I-44’s capacity at just 200 cars. Aerial photos show at least a dozen ramps, and this Boxoffice article from June 18, 1973 mentioned 850 in-car speakers:
“The I-44 Drive-In Theatre, the newest open-air facility in the St. Louis metropolitan area, began its second year of operation March 31. The de luxe 850-speaker ozoner, a Wehrenberg Theatres operation, is located in suburban Peerless Park in St. Louis County at the intersection of Highway 141 and the recently completed super-highway, Interstate 44 … Gordon & Wilson Architects, Clayton, Mo., designed the facility, with Steve Kovac of Kovac Construction Co. handling the construction. The 850 Koropp speakers are located on 16 curved ramps. Each ramp has been specially elevated to provide quality viewing of the 100-foot screen. Three hundred Circle R Simplex in-car heaters have been provided for cold weather use during the year-round operation of the theatre. … The concessions building, featuring modern design and broad expanses of windows on two sides, is done in charcoal gray brightly accented in tangerine on the exterior. The interior design features a white acoustical tile ceiling, spatter-pattern beige asphalt tile floor covering, and avocado green Formica counter tops … The split-level building, with the concessions and storage areas, manager’s office and restrooms on the ground level, rises to a full second story at the extreme end above the restrooms to accommodate the well-placed and superbly equipped booth.”