Terrace Drive-In
451 Alemany Boulevard,
San Francisco,
CA
94112
451 Alemany Boulevard,
San Francisco,
CA
94112
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Robert L. Lippert Theatres Inc.
Architects: Gale Santocono
Nearby Theaters
The Terrace Drive-In was opened May 29, 1951 and was the first drive-in to open in San Francisco. It was operated by Robert L. Lippert Theatres Inc. It was a short lived venture as it had been closed and demolished by 1956.
Contributed by
Robert Burns
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
So when did it open?
According to one source I found, the Terrace Drive-In was open in 1951. A 1946 aerial photo shows no drive-in on the property, so it must have been built between those two years.
However, it did not last very long as a 1956 aerial photo shows it to be demolished. A victim apparently of the construction of HWY 280 and HWY 101 which cut off its entrance road.
Today, housing takes up most of the property, although there is a small corner where the screen once sat that is still open.
I knew that in 1951..Hope we can get date that it opened.
This opened on May 29th, 1951. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Boxoffice, June 9, 1951: “Robert L. Lippert’s new Terrace Drive-In, which opened here (in San Francisco) recently, is an unusual theatre installation. Instead of scooping out the earth to provide the customary flat surface, designer Gale Santocono tailored a drive-in to fit San Francisco’s hilly contour. The parking area resembles an amphitheatre.”
On Feb. 2, 1952, Boxoffice ran a two-page spread on the Terrace with plenty of photos, mostly illustrating how the drive-in used a San Francisco hillside in its construction.