Sunnyside Drive-In
5550 E. Olive Avenue,
Fresno,
CA
93727
5550 E. Olive Avenue,
Fresno,
CA
93727
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This drive-in opened in 1965 and closed in the late-1980’s. Pacific Theaters used the property for swap meets until the late-1990’s. The grounds had space for 1,612 cars. Everything was demolished in 2004.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
I remember attending this drive-in shortly after it opened in Fresno’s “top drawer” Sunnyside neighborhood. I remember seeing “Cheyenne Autumn” and “How the West Was Won” there. It’s sad on visits to Fresno these days to see the former theaters now occupied by churches, behemoth malls, or, worse still, demolished.
There are photos of the Sunnyside Drive-In at this website. Click each photo to expand it.
Here is the projection booth. I guess the projectionist needed something to look at during the movie.
http://tinyurl.com/yfmwa9e
It couldn’t have been completely demolished in 2004 with photos being taken after then.
Here is what’s left of the screen from 2009 photo.
View link
Most of the projectionists,not all, tended to always have issue of PLAYBOY or worse in the booth.
Interesting booth photo just like I remember them.
It actually had 2 screens.
Uploaded 2002 view. Looks like it was nice DI!!
I made 2 stops here, in ‘02 & '03. I’m pretty sure it was demo'ed in 2004. Take a look at the Google Earth timeline from 8/12/03 to 5/2/04. You can see that the screens, snack bar, booths & marquee were removed in that timeframe. What was fascinating was the conditions in '02, almost pristine for being abandoned for so many years. When I came back the next summer, the main screen was reduced to a skeleton frame and the snack bar was tagged by vandals.
It appears that a new swap meet has taken up residence here, website is sunnysideswapmeet.com