Lakewood Drive-In
2100 E. Carson Street,
Long Beach,
CA
90810
2100 E. Carson Street,
Long Beach,
CA
90810
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The Lakewood Drive-In was opened in 1948. If I can remember correctly, this drive-in was located on Carson Street on the border of Lakewood and Long Beach. It had a sail boat painted on the screen.
Contributed by
Dave Smith
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
This drive-in opened in 1948. It was operated by Pacific Theatres and had a capacity for around 1000 cars. The address was:
2100 E Carson St
Long Beach, CA 90810
I believe you are referring to the Los Altos Drive In — right next door to the Cal Worthington Ford. Of the two, only the dealership remains. My daughter was about 4 or 5 when they demolished it in 1994 to make way for a large shopping complex which features a Lowe’s, a K-Mart, and a bunch of eateries. They would always show a double-feature — generally preceded by a cartoon. My brother and I got to wear our pajamas, and lay down in the back of the station wagon, but we were never allowed to sit outside or on top of the car (like other kids). They had a playground by the snackbar, and I remember that we’d always get there “long” before dark (probably 30 minutes – which was an eternity for a little urchin) to get a good spot — not too close, not too far back. One of the first movies I can recall seeing there was Legend of Boggy Creek — something I’m sure my parents thought I’d be asleep for; the last movie was Alaska and some stupid movie about children being abused by the headmistress at a private school. I believe we also saw Jungle Book there…Anyway, they tore it down before I knew what was happening — one summer it was there, the next — GONE. I guess that’s what you call progress, but I miss the good old summer nights, bundled up in a blanket, with a big tub of popcorn to keep me warm.
Cari De La Cruz:
The Los Altos was a different (and much larger) drive-in, on Bellflower Boulevard in Long Beach. I can’t find it listed on Cinema Treasures, but there is a web page devoted to it elsewhere:
View link
From socaldriveins.com:
View link
Here is a 1948 newspaper ad:
http://tinyurl.com/ydslr6
This ad was in the Press-Telegram in May 1949. I can’t place the location:
http://tinyurl.com/3y363e
Are you talking about the Cine Car? There was a Cine Car located in Orange County and was renamed the Lincoln Drive-In.
That must be the one. Thanks.
Google Maps thinks W. Carson Street is E. Carson St., and thus the map link for this theater shows a location west of the river. The site was actually at the corner of Carson and Cherry, way east of the river. However, if you change the city to Lakewood, Google Maps finds the right intersection. You can get the same correction by changing the zip code to 90712.
According to an item in the November 15, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, this drive-in was designed by Clifford and William Glenn Balch, for Pacific Theatres. The item also said that the brothers designed another drive-in for Pacific at the same time, to be built at Roscoe and Sepulveda in the San Fernando Valley.
Clifford Balch (born 1880) would have been about 77 years old at the time these theaters were designed, while his far younger brother William (born 1901) was, at the time, in a business partnership with architect Louis L. Bryan (Balch & Bryan), formed in 1946. I don’t know exactly what the professional relationship between the brothers was at the time, but a few items from about 1947 also appeared in Southwest Builder & Contractor linking them as designers of various drive-ins, and at least one hardtop.