Vermont Drive-In

This theater was operated by Edwards in it's later years. It was located on Valley Blvd. and demolished in the 1980's to make room for a huge Asian shopping center. No trace remains.

This theater holds many fond memories for me as it, and the now demolished Torrance DI, were the first my parents took me to. The Vermont was famous for it's impressive entrance and it's screen tower mural of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I can still see the huge shaggy dog cutout on the marquee when we saw Disney's "Shaggy Dog". The place was huge and if you were in the back row the giant screen looked ridiculously small. Mom took us to see "A Hard Day's Night" and the trailer was "Bikini Beach". Dad took me to see "The Ambushers". Those were the days. When the theater was carved up the original screen (and that gorgeous mural) were demolished. As far as I'm concerned, that's when the theater died.

I have to agree with the "Manwithnoname," the Vermont drive-in was the FIRST drive-in theatre I went too, and it was very nice. I don't remember when, but in the 60's at least they had swings and things for the children, just below that big screen. I watched the movie "Jet Pilot" with Janet Leigh with some buddies in the car about a block west of the theatre, we made up our own words at the movie was shown. Located on the west side of Vermont Avenue, and just south of 174th Street. Many memories. Also the Harbor drive-in some miles south.

My first comment above applies to a different drive-in.

This was one of the closest drive-ins to our home and one of our favorites. I could even see it from my school's playground as the school was on a hill about 3 miles away. At that time (early 1960s), I believe that the screen art above had been replaced by a lime green background and a painting of Little Bo Peep and her sheep. This had probably been painted by Foster & Kleiser, the same firm who created the artwork for other local Pacific Theaters, including the San Pedro, the Compton, the Lakewood and the Rosecrans drive-ins. This original sturdy screen was eventually replaced by a flimsy-looking metal screen to which a second of the same was added, probably around 1970. There is tract housing on the property now, built about 5 years ago.

Oh yeah---one of the funniest memories I have of the Vermont is that it was often a bit difficult to ignore all of the noise coming from the neighboring race track across the street! Gardena Raceways, which I believe belonged to AC Agajanian, was so loud that we could actually hear the cars slamming around the track all the way back to our home 5 miles away on any summer night! Summer has never seemed quite the same since the track closed. (It's too quiet)!

I know the racetrack as Ascot Park.

We used to rotate between this and the nearby Southbay 6 drive-ins back in the 80's and 90's. My family and friends were all shocked when it closed.

I moved to Harbor City in 1994, and used to drive past the Vermont almost every day. It was showing second run films towards the end of its life, with not too many patrons as far as I could see.

From socaldriveins.com:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res8ibgr/socaldriveins/vermont.htm

I'm not sure if this is the drive-in I'm looking for, but I think it is. Does anyone know what the original name was?

The Vermont was showing adult films in the early 70s, according to this LA Times ad:
http://tinyurl.com/34untd

Capacity in 1963 was 769 cars. Operator was Pacific Drive-In Theaters Corp.

Nice to be reminded of this theater every once in a while. The property is completely built out, so you would never know that there was a drive-in there.

"The Vermont was showing adult films in the early 70s, according to this LA Times ad"
Just for that week,Ken. That double bill played at other mainstream theatres.It continued to show regular movies till it closed.

I worked at the Vermont Drive-in in the early 70s. It was owned by Pacific Theatres back then. The manager was Al scriner (not sure how its spelled. It was my first job. Every weekend, I work at night and the Swap meet during the day.

It was sad to see maybe a half dozen cars parked before the first show. Every time I saw that, I figured the Vermont was not long for this world. I would liked to have seen it in its heyday.

The small photo on the bottom of the page shows one of the screens and a sign, which is what you would see on the right side of the street driving south on Vermont.
http://tinyurl.com/3me4cz

And don't forget the photos posted on Nov 8, 2005 at 5:14pm.

Here is the site today:
http://tinyurl.com/4suzz7

Here is part of an LA Times article dated 3/3/94:

Repeating decades-old complaints, residents near the Vermont Drive-In begged the Gardena Planning and Environmental Quality Commission this week to shut it down, saying noise and traffic from its weekend swap meet have made life unbearable. At a continuation of a public hearing begun in January, about 25 residents of 182nd and Rumbold streets and Vermont Avenue filed into the council chambers Tuesday night to complain of traffic congestion, automobile and early morning vendor noise, and swap meet patrons who litter and urinate on residents' lawns.

Residents said they can't enjoy leisurely weekends or allow their children to play outside because of the many swap meet patrons who traipse through their neighborhoods every Saturday and Sunday. Some residents said they haven't been able to sell their homes because of proximity to the swap meet. While most of the complaints concern the 25-year-old, 800-vendor swap meet, open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, residents also complained of honking horns and traffic noise from weeknight movie customers. Officials of the 50-year-old drive-in at 17737 S. Vermont Ave. said they have had workers diligently pick up trash, prohibited walk-in patrons and hired off-duty police officers to direct traffic. Jay Swerdlow, general manager for Pacific Theaters, said he went through nearby neighborhoods last Sunday and saw no signs of swap meet patrons, urination or litter.

Why the hell did those whimps move there in the first place?

There is a swap meet every weekend at the Alpine Village in Torrance, a few miles south of the old Vermont, but no one complains about that. The Alpine swap meet is immense.

I'm curious as to how the featured theaters are selected.The Vermont seems to turn up on a regular basis. Also, it seems that only the earlier added theaters that have a photo get to be featured theaters. Inquiring minds want to know.

I read this in Boxoffice magazine, Jan. 1960. I never heard of an usher at a drive-in, though. What does he do, show you to your parking spot?

LOS ANGELES-Ed Cassas, former head usher at the Vermont Drive-In, was upped to manager trainee in the southwest area.

There are some interesting aerial views on this site. You can see that in 1972 there was one screen facing Vermont, but in the 1980 photo the screens have been moved as it was then a triplex. Also in the 1972 photo you can see the Ascot race track a few blocks to the south. Enter the theater address to see the photos.
http://www.historicaerials.com/Default.aspx?poi=3183

Listed in the 1980 IMPA with a capacity for 900 cars.

Here is a larger version of the photo at the top of the page:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015503.jpg

The Vermont was never an Edwards drive-in to my knowledge,it had always been an Aladdin/Pacific drive-in.