Kato Star Drive-In
101 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive,
Mankato,
MN
56001
101 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive,
Mankato,
MN
56001
1 person
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Kato Outdoor Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
Opened as the Kato Outdoor Drive-In in 1950. It was later renamed the Kato Star Drive-In. Car capacity was 386 and the drive-in closed in the mid-1970’s.
Contributed by
Chris1982
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
600 Summit Avenue
Mankato, MN 56001
Now Affordable Towing, No sign of the former drive-in.
Bratty is correct.
The address for this Drive-in is 600 Summit Avenue, Mankato MN.
Please update.
jwmovies – was there ever a drive-in movie theater in Mankato, MN on Highway 14 East?? I have vivid memories of going to movies frequently but not at the Summit Avenue location described above. I am having a hard time finding anything remotely to do with a Highway 14 location. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.
Okay, jwmovies – I found information on the Highway 14 location, but it is not at all the time frame I remember. Man, it stinks getting old, but I am. =) I didn’t want you to take unnecessary time looking this up for me, but thanks anyway. =)
“Is there anything on that now?”
This drive-in did not exist at this location in 1950, it doesn’t even show up until a 1991 aerial photo! It’s not there in a 1973 aerial either so it seems like it was actually opened in 1978 or it moved locations and opened as a twin at this address.
OK, the original 1 screen location that opened in 1950 was located at the current address of 101 Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Mankato. Its present in aerials from 1949 (probably still under construction) until 1973. A medical clinic now occupies the site.
There are two drive-ins being named the Kato Star. The original one located on 101 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, known as the Kato Outdoor Drive-In, and later the Kato Star Drive-In, opened in 1950. It most likely closed in the mid-1970s when the Kato Twin Star Drive-In opened on 600 Summit Avenue. That twin-screener closed after the 1988 season and was last operated by Carisch Theatres.
The original single-screen Kato Star Drive-In closed after the 1978 season. Both the original Kato Star and the then-new Kato Twin Star operated together only for a single season, but the closure of the original single-screener Kato Star left the twin-screen Kato Twin Star the only drive-in theater left in Mankato until 1988.