Park Vu Drive-In
433 S. Ash Street,
Nowata,
OK
74048
433 S. Ash Street,
Nowata,
OK
74048
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The Park Vu Drive-In was opened on September 3, 1952 with Gary Cooper in “You’re in the Navy Now”. Owner is Chester Fleming.”
The 1953-54 Theatre Catalog included two drive-ins in Nowata. The Park Vu held 300, owned by C. V. Fleming, and the Sky-Vu on “Rt. 60” held 265, owners Bud Hicks and J. J. Bowden. US 60 is the east-west highway through Nowata. The Park Vu Drive-In was closed in 1954.
Contributed by
Michael Kilgore
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
I have a possible location, 459 S. Ash, Nowata, OK
A 1959 entry in the Nowata Daily Star states that Chester Fleming, the owner of the now-defunct Park-Vu drive-in on US 169 leased the land for a trailer court to be constructed.
Given the description, that trailer court was opposite Jack Gordon Park. The article states that the trailer court would have gas, electric, water, and sewer service, so the location makes sense.
A 1971 aerial photo shows several trailers placed close together at that location, but no trace of a drive-in. Today, there are still a few trailers on the site.
https://tinyurl.com/2mvzk8k3
The Park-Vu Drive-In opened its gates on September 3, 1952 with Gary Cooper in “You’re In The Navy Now” (unknown if extras added). The Park-Vu closed two years later in 1954.
Grand opening ad posted.
A slightly closer address is 433 S Ash St, Nowata, OK.
This is the entrance to the RV park which was also the entrance to the drive-in. Thanks to a 1958 aerial that confirms its location.
That same aerial also showed the screen was gone, so it had definitely closed. Today, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining save arguably for the first two ramps from the screen.
https://tinyurl.com/29h7t672
Drive-ins, like all businesses, fail for any number of reasons. The Park Vu did open about a month after the Sky Vue, but was basically in the town next to HWY 169 while the Sky Vue was a couple miles east of town on HWY 60.
The Park Vu also had its screen facing west, which meant that the setting sun would light the screen for longer compared to the Sky Vue’s screen which faced northeast. Whether that had any bearing on the short life of the Park Vu I cannot say.