In 1994, the drive-in did not exist. It appears to have been a parking area for trucks.
By 1999, it was fully constructed and had a go-kart track.
By 2004, it had been abandoned. And given it’s level of disrepair, it appeared to have been abandoned for at least a year and probably longer.
So, if the go-kart track was not mentioned in the grand opening advertisements, it’s probably safe to assume that it did not exist at that time given how much space and investment it took to create it.
Which means that the lifespan of this drive-in was just a few years at best.
Do any of the advertisements mention a go-kart track?
Because the J-shaped pavement that extends from the back of the projection/concession hut along the north, then the east side of the drive-in is clearly a go-kart track. You can even see the little cars in the 1999 aerial photo.
The “ticket hut” may be the small building next to the entrance road and then end of the J-shaped track on the SE corner of the drive-in. However, it was destroyed well before the concession/projection hut. As it is gone by the 2016 aerial while the hut remained standing for at least another year or two.
MichaelKilgore - I highly doubt an abandoned building not only got fixed, but they duplicated the graffiti on the walls only to have it burn down again. So, the date’s wrong.
But the “ticket hut” is another matter. I’m not seeing it in any Google Street View before it supposedly burned down. Unless the “ticket hut” was part of the same concession/projection house.
MichaelKilgore - A September 2015 Google Street View shows the concession/projection building intact with no evidence of any fire damage. I also cannot find a “ticket hut” on the property in street views from preceding years.
However, by 2018 the concession/projection building had clearly been destroyed by fire. So, either the date is off or the post was about another drive-in.
Odd that part of the projection booth/concession stand is still standing. Normally when you knock something down, you take it all down.
But it was interesting in that it was off-set, so that it would not block vehicles behind it.
Only remains are parch marks of the outline and some ramps. There is a pile of dirt and concrete where the concession stand once stood. The foundation supports for the screen may still be present, but cannot be confirmed with current Google aerial and street views.
The screen was gone by 1981. By 1989, the drive-in had been totally demolished and resurfaced with dirt. It sat empty at least through 1999 and by 2006 the substation had been put in.
Today, you can still see parch marks of a few ramps from the overhead view.
A 2019 aerial along with the latest Google aerial (date unknown) does show the drive-in intact. If the property is going to be purchased and reopened, then I doubt the drive-in has been demolished.
Google has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
As of September 2019, it is still open ground with a small pile of what might be rocks and soil towards the back where the projection booth/concession stand once stood.
However, Google also lists the Divine Purpose Worship Center as being on the property, so it may have been built on already.
The outline, ramps, and concession stand/projector booth are still present in 1969, but the screen is gone.
By 1976, just about everything was gone save for the entrance and exit roads. They disappeared as a Best Western was built over them by 1992. At that point, all traces of the drive-in were removed.
Today, most of the property is empty and used as a parking area for truck.
The 1958 aerial shows ramps present amid the remnants of a drive-in that was clearly demolished.
The “remodeling to the new media” statement could be a switch to widescreen. But the timing is really early since “The Robe”, which was the first Hollywood widescreen film was released in the same year. And many drive-ins didn’t make the switch until a couple of years later.
All I can say is that in less than five years this drive-in seemed to have undergone two remodeling efforts before Hurricane Connie destroyed it for good.
If its last entry in the theater catalog was 1956, then it may have closed by 1957 and was certainly demolished by 1959. So, it could’ve lasted just three years.
The 1957 aerial shows the drive-in without a screen. Perhaps it was being rebuilt as a widescreen, but there is no indications of any construction equipment on the site.
By 1973, the drive-in had totally disappeared under the trees.
I’d say this drive-in was closed by 1957 given how long it takes for trees to completely cover a property.
A 1957 aerial shows the drive-in operational. It was still intact and perhaps operational in 1981.
By 1991, the drive-in had been demolished with only the projection booth/concession stand still intact.
By 2002, the projection booth/concession stand was gone. At this point, its use was clearly part of a truck driving school as mentioned in an earlier post.
That use has seemingly ended as the field is now mostly overgrow and the trails created for the truck have disappeared. It is now an empty field with no indication left that it was once a drive-in.
This was a relatively small drive-in, perhaps 100 car capacity.
It does appear intact in a 1965 aerial, but by 1968 it had been demolished. The lot was still empty a year later, but by 1973 the church had been built.
Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
The 1965 aerial does show the drive-in intact. However, there are a couple of things that make me believe it was not operational.
First, the screen is still square as common in the pre-widescreen era. Many drive-ins had converted to widescreen by the late 1950s. However, not all of them had as a few kept their old square screens.
Second, there are a couple of thin ditches on the east side of the property. The lines are not shadows and I’m not sure what they are for. But an operational drive-in would not have such ditches on the entrance side.
A 1955 aerial shows the drive-in with the screen in the NW corner of the property.
However, the 1984 aerial shows the screen on the west side with the ramps also being altered to face that direction.
Clearly, this drive-in underwent some major changes before it closed.
A better address is 1501 N Main St, Andrews, TX.
My mistake. As the 1100 address listed on the Google site turns out to be wrong. That’s what I get for not double-checking.
The 1501 address is that of the bank which is on the site itself. I double-checked that one.
MichaelKilgore - You are right, the cast does not match the movie. Only Gloria DeHaven was in “Two Tickets to Broadway”, a film that came out in 1951.
It seems they mixed in the cast of “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” which includes Mayo, Morgan, and Nelson and also came out in 1951.
A closer address is 1100 S Main St, Andrews, TX.
Google has updated their addresses and this puts it about where the screen used to be.
Today, you can still see the ramps.
https://tinyurl.com/yc4ch943
A closer address is 885 Main St, Ford City, PA.
Google has updated their addresses and this puts it right where the screen used to be. So, despite Main St being PA-66, this address now works better.
Today, all you can see is the remnants of the ramps.
https://tinyurl.com/y64j5z7s
As for the other drive-ins in the area.
I found one at 661 Fortune Dr, Kamloops, BC V2B 2K7, Canada. Today, a McDonald’s and a parking area for a shopping center is on the property.
The drive-in itself appeared intact and perhaps operational in 1978, but it was gone and the shopping center in place by 1982.
In 1994, the drive-in did not exist. It appears to have been a parking area for trucks.
By 1999, it was fully constructed and had a go-kart track.
By 2004, it had been abandoned. And given it’s level of disrepair, it appeared to have been abandoned for at least a year and probably longer.
So, if the go-kart track was not mentioned in the grand opening advertisements, it’s probably safe to assume that it did not exist at that time given how much space and investment it took to create it.
Which means that the lifespan of this drive-in was just a few years at best.
Do any of the advertisements mention a go-kart track?
Because the J-shaped pavement that extends from the back of the projection/concession hut along the north, then the east side of the drive-in is clearly a go-kart track. You can even see the little cars in the 1999 aerial photo.
The “ticket hut” may be the small building next to the entrance road and then end of the J-shaped track on the SE corner of the drive-in. However, it was destroyed well before the concession/projection hut. As it is gone by the 2016 aerial while the hut remained standing for at least another year or two.
MichaelKilgore - I highly doubt an abandoned building not only got fixed, but they duplicated the graffiti on the walls only to have it burn down again. So, the date’s wrong.
But the “ticket hut” is another matter. I’m not seeing it in any Google Street View before it supposedly burned down. Unless the “ticket hut” was part of the same concession/projection house.
MichaelKilgore - A September 2015 Google Street View shows the concession/projection building intact with no evidence of any fire damage. I also cannot find a “ticket hut” on the property in street views from preceding years.
However, by 2018 the concession/projection building had clearly been destroyed by fire. So, either the date is off or the post was about another drive-in.
Odd that part of the projection booth/concession stand is still standing. Normally when you knock something down, you take it all down. But it was interesting in that it was off-set, so that it would not block vehicles behind it.
Comparing the 1965 aerial to today, there is nothing left of the drive-in, not even the ramps.
A 1986 aerial shows the property completely built over by the park.
Google Maps has yet to pinpoint the address of the drive-in. Most likely because Ronald S. Coker Drive is probably not an official street designation.
2617 Co Rd 57, Alliance, NE puts it on the Nebraska Veterans Cemetery. If you go due east the drive-in sits across from the Skyview Golf Course.
Only remains are parch marks of the outline and some ramps. There is a pile of dirt and concrete where the concession stand once stood. The foundation supports for the screen may still be present, but cannot be confirmed with current Google aerial and street views.
The screen was gone by 1981. By 1989, the drive-in had been totally demolished and resurfaced with dirt. It sat empty at least through 1999 and by 2006 the substation had been put in.
Today, you can still see parch marks of a few ramps from the overhead view.
A 2019 aerial along with the latest Google aerial (date unknown) does show the drive-in intact. If the property is going to be purchased and reopened, then I doubt the drive-in has been demolished.
A closer address is 1970 Phinizy Rd, Augusta, GA.
Google has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
As of September 2019, it is still open ground with a small pile of what might be rocks and soil towards the back where the projection booth/concession stand once stood.
However, Google also lists the Divine Purpose Worship Center as being on the property, so it may have been built on already.
The outline, ramps, and concession stand/projector booth are still present in 1969, but the screen is gone.
By 1976, just about everything was gone save for the entrance and exit roads. They disappeared as a Best Western was built over them by 1992. At that point, all traces of the drive-in were removed.
Today, most of the property is empty and used as a parking area for truck.
The 1958 aerial shows ramps present amid the remnants of a drive-in that was clearly demolished.
The “remodeling to the new media” statement could be a switch to widescreen. But the timing is really early since “The Robe”, which was the first Hollywood widescreen film was released in the same year. And many drive-ins didn’t make the switch until a couple of years later.
All I can say is that in less than five years this drive-in seemed to have undergone two remodeling efforts before Hurricane Connie destroyed it for good.
If its last entry in the theater catalog was 1956, then it may have closed by 1957 and was certainly demolished by 1959. So, it could’ve lasted just three years.
The 1957 aerial shows the drive-in without a screen. Perhaps it was being rebuilt as a widescreen, but there is no indications of any construction equipment on the site.
By 1973, the drive-in had totally disappeared under the trees.
I’d say this drive-in was closed by 1957 given how long it takes for trees to completely cover a property.
A 1957 aerial shows the drive-in operational. It was still intact and perhaps operational in 1981.
By 1991, the drive-in had been demolished with only the projection booth/concession stand still intact.
By 2002, the projection booth/concession stand was gone. At this point, its use was clearly part of a truck driving school as mentioned in an earlier post.
That use has seemingly ended as the field is now mostly overgrow and the trails created for the truck have disappeared. It is now an empty field with no indication left that it was once a drive-in.
The grand reopening was last night, April 15th, 2023. https://tinyurl.com/3cttdcth
This was a relatively small drive-in, perhaps 100 car capacity.
It does appear intact in a 1965 aerial, but by 1968 it had been demolished. The lot was still empty a year later, but by 1973 the church had been built.
Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
The 1965 aerial does show the drive-in intact. However, there are a couple of things that make me believe it was not operational.
First, the screen is still square as common in the pre-widescreen era. Many drive-ins had converted to widescreen by the late 1950s. However, not all of them had as a few kept their old square screens.
Second, there are a couple of thin ditches on the east side of the property. The lines are not shadows and I’m not sure what they are for. But an operational drive-in would not have such ditches on the entrance side.