Rustic Tri-View Drive-In
1193 Eddie Dowling Highway (Route 146),
North Smithfield,
RI
02896
1193 Eddie Dowling Highway (Route 146),
North Smithfield,
RI
02896
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Related Websites
Your Neighborhood Theatres (Official)
Additional Info
Operated by: Your Neighborhood Theatres
Previously operated by: Affiliated Theatres, Boston Culinary Group
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Westacres Auto Theatre, Rustic Drive-In, Boro's Drive-In
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
401.769.7601
Nearby Theaters
The Westacres Auto Theatre was opened in 1942. In 1951 it was renamed Rustic Drive-In with a single screen with a capacity for 600 cars. In 1988, two more screens were added and the name was changed to the Rustic Tri-View Drive-In. It has a capacity for 550 cars.
It is listed as the last open drive-in in Rhode Island and is open seasonally April through September.
Contributed by
Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 43 comments)
Just went to Rustic 1st time Saturday night. Got there ½ hour before showtime so parking spot was not great but better than some. Saw T3 UGH! and Captain America Bad ending. Did not think snack bar had big selection. Place is cash only. Dissapointed in intermission. No dancing hot dogs or pushing of snack bar. Only coming attraction of Mission Impossible & Spider Man. Easy to exit. My visit to Mendon Drive In last lear was a better expoerence.
Drive In will be digital cinema starting Friday June 14.
In 1991, I caught a double bill of FX2 and whatever STAR TREK film was released around that time. It was the first and only time I’ve been there.
There’s a nice article about the Desmaris family and the Rustic in the Sept. 8, 1997 New York Times, still available online 20 years later. A real time capsule! It says Clem and Beverly met while working there in 1954. They bought the Rustic in 1988, threw out the X-rated movies and added two screens.
The 1952 and 1955-56 Theatre Catalogs list it with a capacity of 600 cars, run by M. Stanzler and Affiliated Ths. Corp.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac lists the owner as Rustic Drive-In, Inc. and that capacity at 600. That stayed the same through at least its 1966 edition. In 1982, the owner was Hallmark (not the card company, I hope!) and capacity was 500, and nothing changed through the MPAs' last drive-in list in 1988.
Three good YouTube videos:
2008: a staycation postcard from The Herald News 2013: 10-minute Executive Suite TV interview, with drive-in footage, of the folks who run the Rustic 2017: Very nice drone video including what the front looks like at ground level
My first time here was with friends on June 26, 1961 to see a double bill of “The Apartment” and Elmer Gantry.“ Pretty good program.
Also known as Boro’s Drive-in.
1942 ads for a Westacres Auto Theatre on Louisquisset Pike, one mile from Park Square, suggest that was an earlier name for the Rustic Drive-In.
It opened as Westacres Auto Theatre in 1942, and was renamed Rustic Drive-In in 1951. The Boro was in North Attleborough, now Guitar Center and the vacant Christmas Tree Shops - https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/11435
The Rustic’s days may be numbered. From an article in today’s Valley Breeze about extending a water main along Route 146 to encourage economic development - “someone was interested in buying the Rustic Drive-In to build stores, but with no water access, they pulled out.” https://www.valleybreeze.com/news/gateway-to-rhode-island-leaders-approve-tax-study-related-to-route-146/article_bb2e1d64-c511-11ee-8638-97fa4752504b.html