East Trent Drive-In
11201 East Trent Avenue,
Spokane,
WA
99206
11201 East Trent Avenue,
Spokane,
WA
99206
No one has favorited this theater yet
The 750-car Motor-In opened on June 8, 1946 as Spokane’s second drive-in. It was later said that it drew 290,000 cars in the first year with actual admissions not given. On August 1, 1954, with a name change to the East Trent Drive-In, it became listed under Favorite Theatres banner in the Spokesman-Review. At the time Favorite Theatres operated three indoor and two drive-ins in Spokane.
On March 1, 1972 the Spokesman-Review announced the merger of seven Favorite Theatres in Spokane with the Sterling Recreation Organization (SRO). While being operated by SRO the East Trent’s listings disappeared from the newspaper after September of 1986. According to a December 1986 news article Cineplex Odeon purchased SRO for $45.5 million. There is no indication that the East Trent ever opened again.
In 1998 the East Trent Drive-In’s land was bought and put up for redevelopment. In 2006 its sign was donated to the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum and after being restored was put on display in 2011.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Added the opening movie ad from June 8,1946 and Goggle Earth view from 1996.
A picture of the theater’s roadside marquee from its gallery at Drive-ins.com is here.