South Drive-In

The second drive-in theatre to open in Marion, Ohio was the South Drive-In. Horace Abrams from Cleveland, Ohio dba Summit Theatres Inc. opened it on June 2, 1950 featuring the 1948 Romance/Western “Gallant Legion” and co-feature was the 1948 musical “Ladies of the Chorus”. He was operating the Marion Drive-In also at that this time. Abrams built the drive-in at a cost of $100,000.00 which featured RCA sound and projection equipment, with 630 in-a-car speakers. Co-Op Theatres of Ohio Inc. was the buyer and booking agency in-between 1947 to 1967 for the drive-in. A new CinemaScope screen was installed in April of 1956 before the start of the summer season.

In June of 1967 both the North Drive-In and South Drive-In were sold by Summit Drive-In Theatre Inc. to Solar Sportsystems who provides concession’s to various sporting facilities. After that the ownership/operators of the South Drive-In gets very convoluted. The drive-in closed at the end of season in 1980 and later on the drive-in was demolished. In talking to one of the last prior owners, he bought the property from the bank in 1985 because they foreclosed on it. Also he remodeled, added on to the concession stand and made it into offices for the storage lockers and other small businesses.

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