Black River Drive-In
28035 Route 3,
Watertown,
NY
13601
28035 Route 3,
Watertown,
NY
13601
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The Black River Drive-In opened on August 18,1950 with a capacity of 550 cars. It continued to operate until the mid-1980’s when a fire destroyed the concession building. The site sat unused for the next twenty years.
In 2005 John Nagelschmidt and Loren Knapp formed Black River Drive-In, Inc. and started work to rebuild the drive-in. They reopened on August 18, 2006.
Contributed by
Gregg Davenport
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Google maps shows the drive-in before reconstruction, Bing shows it afterwards.
B I N G
On Google, I can see vehicles and the footings of the new concesstion building. I’d say Google shows it during reconstruction and Bing after. Google also doesn’t map the location very well. It is near the intersection of route 3 and route 342.
PLEASE CHANGE ADDRESS TO:
ROUTE 3 & MEHAFFY LANE
28035 Route 3 is the address but Google puts it a mile off and this new address is in fact another address that is correct and much more helpful.
A Bit More Detailed History
The Drive-In was built by Sylvan Leff and opened in August 18, 1950 and held 550 autos.
In the early 1970’s he leased it to Panther Theatres which became Country Wide Theaters.
In a couple of years they sold it to ATKO Canton Corp. of Syracuse NY, which was owned by Charles Girrard and Anthony Kolinski.
In the mid 1980’s they leased it to Jeff Szot who operated it for one season.
After closing in the fall, a fire badly damaged the concession building.
The Drive-In remained closed for about the next 20 years.
In the mid 1990’s John Nagelschmidt purchased the Drive-In from Kolinski & Girrard.
In August of 2005 John Nagelschmidt and Loren Knapp formed Black River Drive-In, Inc.
Reopened August 18, 2006
More info and photos always welcome.
Ther are many pictures on the official website where that history came from. Simply click on virtual tour and “photo gallery” will drop down.