Wheeling Twin Drive-In
1010 S. Milwaukee Avenue,
Wheeling,
IL
60090
1010 S. Milwaukee Avenue,
Wheeling,
IL
60090
6 people
favorited this theater
Opened August 19, 1966 as the M&R Twin Drive-In, it was located off Milwaukee Avenue. It was originally operated by M & R Amusements. The opening double feature shown at the M&R Twin Drive-In was “Georgy Girl” with “Three on a Couch”. Later renamed Wheeling Twin Drive-In In 1978, a third screen was built.
Beginning in the mid-1970’s, the Wheeling Twin Drive-In held a flea market on weekends, which continued until the drive-in was closed in 1995. Today, almost all trace of the Wheeling Twin Drive-In has been wiped away, and a great deal of the former theater’s property has been taken over by the Palwaukee Airport.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
I remember driving by this place and thinking the screen by the road looked huge.
That’s a cool web site, michigandriveins.
The Wheeling Twin Drive-In (originally called the M&R Twin Drive-In) was built in 60 days, according to this article about it in Boxoffice of June 19, 1967. Additional photos of it are featured in Boxoffice of October 30, 1967.
The drive-in was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Sidney H. Morris & Associates, who designed at least two conventional theaters for M&R Amusements: the 1960 Old Orchard Theatre in Skokie, and the Evergreen Theatre in Evergreen Park, Illinois.
Thanks Joe.
I remember seeing ‘'Cliffhanger’‘ here.
Linkrot repair:
The June 19, 1967 Boxoffice article about the M&R drive-in is now here.
The second article, from October 30, 1967, starts here and is continued here.
Added a photo of the drive-in I took in the summer of 1980.
Went to go see Predator (and another unknown movie , possibly Platoon or Hamburger Hill)30 yrs ago at this drive in as a kid !..I remember riding in the car for over an hour getting there from Roselle,Il !..This place had more arcade games in the snack bar than any drive in I’ve seen !.It kicked some serious balls !
50 years ago today. Grand Opening 8/19/66 ad added courtesy of the Chicago’s Extinct Businesses facebook page.
I just talked to one of the owners of Great Lakes Dragaway last week. One of the screens from the Wheeling Twin drive-in is apart and sits on their property just to the left as you pay to get in. It was bought with the intention of putting it up back on the dragstrip property some years ago and showing movies as well as having their regular races. Don’t know if it will ever go up being it has been this long already.
My childhood memories of the Twin Drive-In isn’t for the movies, it was for the flea markets on Sunday mornings. I used to help my mom and dad sell junk here almost every weekend in the summer from 1981-1984. We had to leave our home on the far NW side of Chicago way before sunrise just to wait in line by the theater marquee off of Milwaukee Avenue so we could get a good seller space. This was the place I also tried my first ever candy (not caramel) apple. If my parents sold well, I lucky to buy a then “new” Atari 2600 video game cartridge from one of the handful of video game dealers that sold here at this time. I’ll also never forget the Vanguard coin-op video game they had in the concession stand. It played music even if no one was playing the game. A ton of people used to go to this flea market, it’s sad it’s now gone. I can remember some sellers like it was yesterday. Good times.