Park Drive-In

3800 Pine Street,
Abilene, TX 79601

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The Park Drive-In opened in 1949 with a capacity of 300 cars. It was operated by Interstate Theatres from the mid-1950’s through the late-1960’s. The drive-in closed in 1986 and has since been demolished.

Contributed by Chuck

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

lostmemory
lostmemory on September 13, 2009 at 6:59 pm

The Park Drive-In is listed in 1980 with a capacity for 300 cars. The name of the operator given for that year was Plitt South.

Chuck1231
Chuck1231 on September 13, 2009 at 8:29 pm

My information on this theatre came from the book “The Old Movie Theatres of Texas”.

RonP
RonP on September 26, 2010 at 6:02 pm

Here are some of my old notes on the Park Drive-In, which I recently found:
The start of construction of the Park Drive-In was announced in the Abilene Reporter-News on October 9, 1949. Those attending the $100,000 theatre, which opened on December 16, 1949, were able to see Doris Day in ‘It’s a Great Feeling,’ on a 56’ high screen. Interstate Theatres was the operator of the completely paved 475-car theater, which boasted a 38’ snack bar with patio dining to watch the movie. In August of 1952, room for 225 cars was added to bring the total to 700.
In November of 1970, they started and Adult film policy, which continued even when they later became part of ABC Interstate Theatres. The original 1949 address given was 3600 Pine Street on U.S. Highway 83 and from 1952-1974 their ads listed the location as 3801 Pine. Internet maps and street views now put it at 4005 Pine Street, home of the sprawling Mikes Wrecking. The aerial view show hundreds of wrecks lined up on the ramps as if they were waiting for the show to begin— in the daytime and with no screen. It was last listed in the International Motion Picture Almanac in 1988 with the capacity reduced to 300 cars.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on March 21, 2011 at 8:10 pm

Adult Film policy,wish you could go into more details,I worked for ABC THEATRES,{Southeast] and we always tried to stay clear of adult movies,I guess you mean X rated.that sure doesn’t sound like the ABC THEATRES i worked for until Plitt took over.

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