Newark Drive-In
300 E. Cleveland Avenue,
Newark,
DE
19711
300 E. Cleveland Avenue,
Newark,
DE
19711
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Nice!
That’s a picture of my car I took before we opened. I was supervising the snack bar opening as the Berlo Vending supervisor at the time, they’re were constant delays with the grading etc., that delayed the opening, and yes it was an Eric theater drive-in.
I had no clue this was an Eric theater. When they triplexes the theater they ruined it by putting a much smaller screen in front of that awesome single screen
Closed on September 6, 1984 with “Flashpoint” at Screen 1, “Red Dawn” at Screen 2, and “Brainstorm” at Screen 3. Demolished in 1988.
Evidently, this theater stumbled while trying to open. Originally, ads started in the Wilmington newspaper on Aug. 9, 1969, saying the drive-in would open on August 13, then Aug. 15, and the theater finally did open on Aug. 20, 1969. Ive posted an ad of that date, stating “Grand Opening Tonight”, Aug. 20, 1969.
I worked there summer of 1978 as what we called a “ramp boy”. I must’ve been about 17. I repaired speakers, cut grass, picked up trash, switched film reels occasionally, directed exiting traffic, and any other odd tasks the manager could find for me. I was also supposed to track down unpaid guests and kick them out (the custom van craze was in full force then so many people snuck in); in practice, I often accepted bribes (usually a beer) to look the other way. Grease and Jaws 2 were the big releases we showed that summer. The main feature was often shown twice, with a minor movie sandwiched in between. Sometimes a more “adult” movie would be shown very late following the mainstream films.
Information needs to be updated. In the early 80’s it was turned into the triplex drive in theater. There was a smaller screen put in front of the large single screena nd two other small ones to each side of the main one.
friday marathon, i think was the summer of 84….
Here is a 1970 aerial photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS:
http://flic.kr/p/9c8vNi
I saw a “Friday the 13th” marathon there and I think that was right before it closed for good. You can still totally see where the big screen used to be.