Columbia Drive-In

Nothing exists of this drive-in. If you didn’t know where it was you would never know it had been there. Street-side marquee, screen, concession and projection building were all demolished years ago. The entrance and exit roads are mostly grown over, and the land is a grass-covered expanse that an adjacent dairy farmer uses for grazing. The land is for sale, however. The sign went up fairly recently. Apparently the landowner’s plan to building a shopping center there didn’t pan out, so ultimately this little gem was demolished for nothing. That’s really a shame, because the last owners of the drive-in did a great job of renovating and running it, and it was packed every night. Reportedly they had the opportunity to buy the land but had come off a rainy season and were short on cash and had to take a pass.

Yes, Lost Memory is very much missed as he was one of the best CT members and I do feel his reasons for leaving were well warranted though I wish he had decided to remain a member with his wonderful contributions. Having written this about Lost Memory I don’t intend to write about it here again as these comments should be left to personal email and not taking up space on the subject of this drive-in.

Here it is 2011 and nothing has been done. The drive in could have remained open, at least that would have been better than the weeds.
The drive in was supposed to be replaced with a housing development and probably another blooming shopping center. During one of the Columbia Drive In operating periods it showed only adult films. I cannot remember whether it was over 18 or over 21. During that time the state built the Route 30 bypass behind the theatre. Cars used to park on the shoulder of the bypass to watch the movie. (Who needs sound for an adult film.) The state wanted the drive in owner to install a wall to block the view of the screen from the bypass.

The state also put up no parking signs along that portion of the
road. During the time of the adult presentations I believe the
same person owned the State Theatre in Columbia and that was used
for adult films as well. Just a little bit of trivia.

Ed, Lost is doing fine and still does a lot of research but for his own personal pleasure. I still talk with him on a regular basis. He has placed most of his interests on other things but still fondly remembers all that he contributed to CT but says he doesn’t miss it.
I miss his humor on so many of his comment posts. I will relay on to him your comments the next time we talk.

Mike, without an architect you wouldn’t have a theatre. Look at the old movie palaces and see what these architects have created. You don’t find that splendor in the theatres built today. So I feel the architects are as important as any stories by managers. I grew up in the theatres being my Grandmother managed for the old Kohm Circuit and even back then even the neighborhhod theatre had a lot of splendor created by the architects. Even the architectual design of a drive-in theatre is an instense creation. As for as Lost Memory in my opinion and many other members of CT know that we lost a great member, propbably the best contributor to the site. Thick skin has nothing to do with it. You don’t know all the facts about him leaving the site.

Mike, when you do the amount of research that Lost Memory has done on the theatres through out the entire United States then you might be able to make such a negative comment about him. He has contributed more to Cinema Treasures than any other member on the site. He very rarely submitted a theatre without exhausting all resources to include the address (which seems to be a real problem with theatres and drive-ins being submitted right and left with no addresses) the year the theatre was built, the seating total, the architect, number of screens, etc.etc. No one on this site has a right to say something negative toward him in any manner. One of the things that he got fed up with was members turning the site into a personal blog instead of communicating to whomever through their personal emails.

There are plenty of photos of the drive-ins out there, it is a matter of research if one wants to take the time and effort. Look through the drive-ins listed on CT that have been submitted and those that were listed without addresses that were later found through research. It’s is a matter of takiung the time and effort. Aerial’s show basically the same thing each time, the concession/projection, the lane layout and the screen.

Aerial views can be used for more than just finding an address. Since 99% of the drive-ins listed have no pics, what’s the harm done in seeing a view of the layout of the drive-in.

An aerial photo of a drive-in can be a useful research tool when the address or location of the drive-in is unknown. I’ve used aerial photos in conjunction with topo maps and Google maps to find a location for a number of drive-ins. Since we already know the location of this drive-in the photo is unnecessary and I doubt that it was being posted for research purposes.

So why are these photos being posted to numerous pages for drive-in theaters that already have an address? I’ve asked this question multiple times and no reply has been given by the individual posting these photos. Maybe Ross or Patrick will have better luck getting an answer to this question than I’ve had. Posting an aerial photo to a drive-in listing that has no address is fine but flooding this website with these photos should not be permitted. Cinema Treasures isn’t a dumpster. If this is now an acceptable practice on Cinema Treasures, then it has become a website that I no longer wish to contribute to.

Car capacity given in 1975 was 700. Change the status to demolished.

The Columbia Drive-In was originally operated and/or owned by the Doylestown based Budco Theatres, who also operated the 309 Cinema and Drive-in (in Springhouse), the Doylestown Barn Cinema (in Doylestown), the Goldman Theatre (in Philadelphia) (since it’s 1972 acquision of William Goldman Theatres), and the Cinema I Springfield (in Springfield), amung its theatres and Drive-Ins.

The status for this drive-in can be changed to “closed”. I’m not sure if it has been demolished yet.