Maywood Outdoor Theatre

1947 5th Avenue,
River Grove, IL 60171

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Essaness Theaters Corp.

Architects: Benjamin H. Stein

Previous Names: North Avenue Outdoor Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Maywood Outdoor Theatre

Opened August 6, 1948, one of the earliest drive-in theatres in the Chicago suburbs, the North Avenue Outdoor Theatre was located on 5th Avenue at N. River Road in River Grove. It could accomodate 1,000 cars and was originally part of the Essaness circuit.

By the early-1960’s the North Avenue Outdoor Theatre had been renamed Maywood Outdoor Theatre. It operated until 1973 and was afterward demolished, the property acquired by Triton College.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

JamesPiscitelli
JamesPiscitelli on November 27, 2003 at 1:42 pm

The drive-in was located in River Grove, not River Forest. It is now part of Triton College known as the Collins Center, which includes the Richard Burton Performing Arts Center.

lafalot55
lafalot55 on February 27, 2007 at 7:40 pm

I the 50’s and 60’s every winter the sign would say “Colsed for the Season, Reason, Freezin. Carol Ries

jwmovies
jwmovies on October 30, 2012 at 10:37 pm

Approx. address for this drive-in was 1947 North 5th Avenue.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 11, 2016 at 6:52 pm

This opened on August 6th, 1948. Its grand opening ad in the photo section.

okcray
okcray on August 24, 2017 at 10:12 am

From what I could tell by going through the Chicago Tribune Online Archives, the final ad I was able to find for the North Avenue Outdoor appeared on Sunday, October 28, 1973. “Adult Triple Feature” was playing, including “What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?”, “Love in New York” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The big marquee at the intersection of North Avenue and 5th Avenue remained for several years after the theater had closed, looking more and more ragged as time passed.

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