270 Drive-In
2925 Dunn Road,
Florissant,
MO
63033
2925 Dunn Road,
Florissant,
MO
63033
1 person
favorited this theater
The 270 Drive-In opened in 1964 by Arthur Theatres with a capacity of 1,200 cars making it the largest drive-in in the St. Louis area. Located on Dunn Road and West Florissant Avenue just off I-270, its large marquee with the yellow tower and flashing red ball on top was visible for miles coming up and down the interstate.
This was one of the last theatres that the Arthurs operated when they went into financial dificulties and finally went out of business. It was demolished in 1981 to make way for the Clock Tower Shopping Center.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Does anyone know what caused Arthur Enterprises to go bankrupt?
Does anyone know what became of Marvin Stiver or Joan/Mary Shook?
Operation held on until September 1984. Final bill: Bolero & Last
American Virgin.
You can see an aerial view from 1971 if you enter the theater address on this site.
View link
No thanks. Too much typing involved. I’ll wait for a photo to be posted.
Thanks for posting the photo Chuck. I knew if I waited long enough one would appear. :)
More pics of the 270 (and other St. Louis area theatres & drive-ins) here: St. Louis Flashback Movie & Drive-In Theatres
I worked at 270 drive inn , with Marv Stivers, my mom and dad worked for him in the very early 50’s and introduced them ,I will ask my dad which theater it was in st. louis
@royals: In my opinion, what cause Arthur Theaters to go bankrupt was they took too long to expand into St. Louis county. Most of their theaters (Fox, Shenandoah, etc) were in the city of St. Louis and, by the time the late 1960s/early 1970s rolled around, Wehrenberg, Mid-America, and General Cinema (along with a few others) had opened several new theaters in St. Louis County. Arthur tried to play “catch-up” with the Cross Keys, 270 Drive-In, and St. Andrews Cinema, but they were too late to totally commit to the county.
Just my opinion, of course…others can feel free to share other thoughts on this…
Mid-America especially. They put up those little twin theaters all over the place.
Good point, Norm…although Mid-America overdid it, in my opinion. A rather poorly done twin in any little strip shopping center they could find (South City, Manchester, Paddock, Four Seasons, etc). At least the Cave Springs was a free standing theater with its own building…
Another comment on Arthur Theaters: They actually did move into the county in the 60s and 70s, opening theaters in St. Ann and Ellisville in addition to the Cross Keys and St. Andrews…but almost all their theaters had only one screen. Mid-America had the foresight to at least open several twin theaters and expand the Esquire and Village Square to three screens. Wehrenberg also went multiplex, with the Westport Twin, Cinema 4 Center, and Des Peres 4. Arthur just didn’t seem to recognize that the multiplex was the new way to go with movie theaters…despite the fact they ran the St. Ann 4 Screen Drive-In!! Go fig…