41 Twin Outdoor Theatre

7701 S. 27th Street,
Franklin, WI 53132

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Standard Theaters Management Corp.

Previous Names: 41 Outdoor Theatre

Nearby Theaters

41 Twin Outdoor Theatre

Opened July 1, 1948 with Joel McRea in “Four Faces West”. As the single screen the 41 Outdoor Theatre had a capacity for 1,000 cars. A year later it was twinned and became to 41 Twin Outdoor Theatre with another 1,000-car capacity. The "Twin" moniker was kept even after 2 new screens were added on May 22, 1981. The facility featured an ornate neon sign and drive-in screens.

The 41 Twin Outdoor closed on September 16, 2001. The large drive-in was still a thriving business, but sat on land that had become exceedingly valuable over the years. Demolition began in April 2002 as crews began clearing the way for a new office park for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.

The concession stand caught on fire during its demolition. That’s insult to injury.

Contributed by Pete Christy, Cinema Treasures

Recent comments (view all 23 comments)

bob72
bob72 on September 8, 2014 at 7:06 am

Here is a interesting Facebook page about a Documentary of the 41 Twin https://www.facebook.com/41TwinOutdoorTheater

bob72
bob72 on September 8, 2014 at 7:07 am

http://drive-inthruwisconsin.com/

Drive-In 54
Drive-In 54 on October 5, 2014 at 11:23 am

Just posted the opening day movie ad. I hope somebody went and took pictures and documented the drive-in before it got demolished.

Drive-In 54
Drive-In 54 on October 5, 2014 at 11:33 am

Just added a aerial from 2000. It is sad they torn the drive-in down with all the vacant land around it. You would think they would have built on the vacant land verses the drive-in. Maybe the owners wanted to get out of the drive-in theatre business also.

fasterandlouder
fasterandlouder on October 29, 2015 at 5:30 pm

From what I have heard, the owners of Great Lakes Dragaway bought one of the newer screens(that they had added in 1981)before demo, and brought it back to the dragstrip property. They wanted to add a drive-in there along with the dragstrip but it never came to be. I hear the screen and its parts are still laying apart on the property. Anyone else out there hear about this also?

Drive-In 54
Drive-In 54 on October 13, 2016 at 4:37 pm

I uploaded some pictures from Charles Bruss, he nominated the 41 Twin Theater site to have a historical marker put there so it would never be forgotten. They accepted his nomination and gave him the honor of writing the text that appeared on the marker. It was placed in 2005, at the former site of the 41 Twin Outdoor and current occupant, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance.

fasterandlouder
fasterandlouder on April 11, 2017 at 5:48 pm

Update to my earlier post: I just talked to one of the owners of Great Lakes Dragaway last week. The screen that is currently on their property apart is from the old Wheeling Twin drive-in, not the 41 Outdoor.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on March 1, 2018 at 4:19 pm

1948 photo taken from the roof at the Grand Opening added. Photo credit More Retro Milwaukee Memories

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on March 2, 2018 at 4:43 am

Does anyone know why the concession stand caught fire during the demolition?

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on November 25, 2018 at 1:15 pm

two vids of the demolition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1KhJi-zhaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2enC15ssc4

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