From Variety, Aug. 6, 1952, “Terrace Drive-In opened in Lees Summitt, Mo., July 31. The 300-car ozoner is operated by Jam, Inc.”
From the Aug. 27, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor, “The sign on the Terrace Drive-In, Lee’s Summit, Mo., was damaged by high winds the day after it opened. Sam Abend and Earl Jameson are the owners.”
From Variety July 9, 1958, “Roy S. Lindamood, 75, longtime theatre manager in the Kansas City area, died June 26 in K.C. He had operated the Vogue Theatre and the Terrace Drive-In Theatre in Lee’s Summit and at one time ran an amusement park in Galveston, Tex.”
Good catch, fatfink. The Dixieland was listed under Opp AL in the Motion Picture Almanacs' drive-in lists from 1977 to 1979, owned by Con-McLend.
The MPA circuit listings showed the Dixieland among Connet Theatres' holdings from at least 1976 through at least the 1988 edition, nine years after it fell off the MPA drive-in list.
What became the Tri-City was advertising as the 99 Drive-In in 1940. The “99” was featured in its ads after it reopened in 1947 until it became the Tri-City, which was Nov. 28, 1948 according to DriveIn101 above.
Although the Mt. Vernon was included in an LA Times ad for the 1991 movie Double Impact, in a laundry list of theaters showing the film, that was probably a mistake. I couldn’t find any other Times mentions of the Mt. Vernon in 1990 or 1991.
The Mt. Vernon’s final ad in the San Bernardino Sun was Sept. 10, 1989.
The Skyline stayed open until January 1989, when its newspaper movie listings abruptly ceased. It’s weird how many references I’ve read for a 1987 closure, but the newspaper ads don’t lie, at least not that way.
Current owner Larry Rodkey bought the Skyline in 1995, as recounted in a 2015 article in the local newspaper. “This one (Skyline) was closed when I bought it. And this is what I get for drinking,” Rodkey said with a hearty laugh. “I came here many, many years ago and stopped in front and I said ‘I’m going to own this some day.’ And 10 years later I got it.”
After running it on a shoestring for about a decade, Rodkey leased it to manager Randy Shull. After a couple of years, Shull closed it in August 2009. Gene Harvey took over the lease and reopened two months later.
Harvey tried and failed to win a digital projector from Honda, then closed the Skyline in February 2015. Rodkey returned, paid more for two digital projectors than he had paid for the whole place two decades earlier, and reopened the drive-in again in April that year.
The Tesuque was a twin for a few years after its 1953 expansion. That fits with the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog calling it the Tesuque Twin, owner Marlin Butler, cap 850.
Newspaper ads from at least May 8, 1953 called it the Tesuque Twin and referred to East and West screens. In September that year, silent western star Hoot Gibson made an appearance there on a stage “erected between the two screens.” Per the Albuquerque Journal.
On Feb. 24, 1956, a wind storm “tore off a 16-by-43 foot section of the east screen at the Tesuque drive-in theater early in the afternoon. Part of it blew over the wall into the adjoining street.” Per a front-page story the next day in the Journal.
It rebuilt. The July 13, 1956 ad in the Journal had East and West screens again. But by 1957, the ads showed that the drive-in was back down to one screen.
The Monitor of McAllen TX, on July 15, 2000, wrote about the history of the Town & Country, saying that it reopened July 7 that year “after almost 20 years of darkness”.
The article said the drive-in opened June 21, 1956, with a capacity over 1450. “At the time, it was billed as the largest drive-in in the Southwest.” It was then owned by C.D. “Toad” Leon of Abilene. He said, “I had moved to Abilene and was here a year without any visible means of support and they were going to arrest me for vagrancy, so I built the drive-in.”
Based on newspaper ads, it looks like the Circle was closed for a while before they tried to reboot it as the Cinema C. I couldn’t find Circle ads from August 1965 until the Cinema C’s Grand Opening. And it looks like the reboot didn’t take; I couldn’t find any Cinema C ads after October 1967.
The NE 66 changed to simply 66 (not Route 66) in 1962, then to the Cinema 66 in 1964. It was still active in May 1968, but the Barton chain was sold in June 1968 to Ferris Enterprises, which immediately closed the Cinema 66. Its final ad was May 31, 1968. The following week, the ad said “Closed for remodeling. Watch for re-opening later this summer!”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The EXHIBITOR: “Video Independent Theatres opened the Sooner Drive-In, Miami, Okla., and the Airline Drive-In, Ponca City, Okla.”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The EXHIBITOR: “Video Independent Theatres opened the Sooner Drive-In, Miami, Okla., and the Airline Drive-In, Ponca City, Okla.”
According to ads in the Miami News-Record, the Tri-State didn’t change its name to the Sooner until after Aug. 21, 1963. It was the Sooner by Aug. 23, 1963.
The final night for Springfield’s Sunset Drive-In was Sunday, Sept. 4, 1983. Its final program was Naked Weekend, Center Fold Girls, Senior Snatch, and Miss Nude America, all rated R.
The Springfield’s final night was Oct. 7, 1978. On its final weekend, it ran a five-movie Ma and Pa Kettle marathon. Its newspaper ad read, “After being in business since 1947. This Saturday will be the last time you can see a movie at the Springfield Drive In. We will be closing down.”
By the way, the Film Daily Year Book that I mentioned here for listing the Park-In in its list of drive-ins, was wrong. It turned out that Springfield’s Park-In was an indoor theater was a confusing name.
According to notes in BoxOffice, the Springfield opened on Aug. 19, 1947, then held a “Formal Opening” on Sept. 19, 1947. Those notes:
Aug. 16, 1947: “Don Davis returned (to Kansas City) late last week from Springfield where Sam Taft will open his new drive-in next week.”
Aug. 23, 1947: “KANSAS CITY — Two new drive-ins have opened and one is to open soon in this territory. O. F. Sullivan’s second outdoor theatre in Wichita, with a capacity of 750 cars, and Sam Taft’s open-airer in Springfield, also with a 750-car capacity, opened this week. Perish Woodson plans to open his drive-in in Topeka within two weeks.”
Also Aug. 23, 1947: “SPRINGFIELD, MO. — The Springfield Drive-in Theatre, of 750-car capacity, was opened by owner Sam Taft, Tuesday, August 19. The new theatre is RCA-equipped throughout, including the latest type of in-the-car speakers. The order for the equipment was placed through Cine Supply of St. Louis and George McDonald of that company was here supervising the installation of equipment. For the past several years Taft has been manager of the Drive-in Theatre in Des Peres, near St. Louis.“
Sept. 20, 1947: “SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Drive-In, a mile east of town on No. 66, staged a grand opening Friday night, September 19. Accommodating 800 cars, the outdoor spot boasts of the finest equipment and appointments. If the weather remains normal, the situation will remain open for about two months, then will close until next April. The management advises that patrons on foot will be seated on comfortable chairs provided near the front.”
A 2018 issue of Rural Missouri, posted at the 19 Drive-In Facebook page, said that Donald Spreng owned and operated the drive-in from 1964 until his death in July 2011. It’s now run by the oldest of three children, Karen Spreng, who is a full-time student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. The opening of the 19 was delayed in 2019 because she was swamped with school work.
The Aug. 20, 1949 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review reported, “Rube Levin’s 700-car Hilltop Drive-In near Joliet has opened with Richard Kamens as manager.”
According to Chuck’s Photo Spot, David Friedman and Irwin Joseph bought the Hill-Top in the late summer of 1959.
Friedman’s book about the Hill-Top and much more, A Youth In Babylon, is currently available at the Internet Archive.
The Crest’s Grand Opening ad was definitely on Aug. 7, so the July 30, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor must have described a soft opening or an anticipated opening:
Jim Randall, news director, KFBS, Joplin, Mo., was one of the 50 entrants in the contest to name Commonwealth’s new drive-in. Randall’s selection was the Crest, and he won a $25 bond and a season’s pass for two.
The Crest Drive-In, Joplin, Mo., opened. Doyle Mowrey, city manager for Joplin’s two drive-ins, is handling. A fireworks display was held. Innovations include a self-service boxoffice, which will expedite collection of admissions from patrons. Covering approximately all of a 13-acre tract of land, the new drive-in will accommodate 500 cars. The spot plans to remain open until Thanksgiving Day. It is being operated by Commonwealth Theatres, Inc., operator of the Tri-State Drive-In on West Seventh Street. Morey will be city manager of the two theatres, serving in a supervisory capacity.
From the Albuquerque Tribune June 6, 1963, discussing the closing career of Milas L. Hurley, operator of Hurley Theatres, “The Princess was the hard-luck theater of the three. A morning fire in February, 1943, gutted most of the building. … Almost 20 years later, in October, 1962, fire again struck the theater, partially destroying the front. … The theater has been closed since”.
From Variety, Aug. 6, 1952, “Terrace Drive-In opened in Lees Summitt, Mo., July 31. The 300-car ozoner is operated by Jam, Inc.”
From the Aug. 27, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor, “The sign on the Terrace Drive-In, Lee’s Summit, Mo., was damaged by high winds the day after it opened. Sam Abend and Earl Jameson are the owners.”
From Variety July 9, 1958, “Roy S. Lindamood, 75, longtime theatre manager in the Kansas City area, died June 26 in K.C. He had operated the Vogue Theatre and the Terrace Drive-In Theatre in Lee’s Summit and at one time ran an amusement park in Galveston, Tex.”
Good catch, fatfink. The Dixieland was listed under Opp AL in the Motion Picture Almanacs' drive-in lists from 1977 to 1979, owned by Con-McLend.
The MPA circuit listings showed the Dixieland among Connet Theatres' holdings from at least 1976 through at least the 1988 edition, nine years after it fell off the MPA drive-in list.
What became the Tri-City was advertising as the 99 Drive-In in 1940. The “99” was featured in its ads after it reopened in 1947 until it became the Tri-City, which was Nov. 28, 1948 according to DriveIn101 above.
Although the Mt. Vernon was included in an LA Times ad for the 1991 movie Double Impact, in a laundry list of theaters showing the film, that was probably a mistake. I couldn’t find any other Times mentions of the Mt. Vernon in 1990 or 1991.
The Mt. Vernon’s final ad in the San Bernardino Sun was Sept. 10, 1989.
The Skyline stayed open until January 1989, when its newspaper movie listings abruptly ceased. It’s weird how many references I’ve read for a 1987 closure, but the newspaper ads don’t lie, at least not that way.
Current owner Larry Rodkey bought the Skyline in 1995, as recounted in a 2015 article in the local newspaper. “This one (Skyline) was closed when I bought it. And this is what I get for drinking,” Rodkey said with a hearty laugh. “I came here many, many years ago and stopped in front and I said ‘I’m going to own this some day.’ And 10 years later I got it.”
After running it on a shoestring for about a decade, Rodkey leased it to manager Randy Shull. After a couple of years, Shull closed it in August 2009. Gene Harvey took over the lease and reopened two months later.
Harvey tried and failed to win a digital projector from Honda, then closed the Skyline in February 2015. Rodkey returned, paid more for two digital projectors than he had paid for the whole place two decades earlier, and reopened the drive-in again in April that year.
The Tesuque was a twin for a few years after its 1953 expansion. That fits with the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog calling it the Tesuque Twin, owner Marlin Butler, cap 850.
Newspaper ads from at least May 8, 1953 called it the Tesuque Twin and referred to East and West screens. In September that year, silent western star Hoot Gibson made an appearance there on a stage “erected between the two screens.” Per the Albuquerque Journal.
On Feb. 24, 1956, a wind storm “tore off a 16-by-43 foot section of the east screen at the Tesuque drive-in theater early in the afternoon. Part of it blew over the wall into the adjoining street.” Per a front-page story the next day in the Journal.
It rebuilt. The July 13, 1956 ad in the Journal had East and West screens again. But by 1957, the ads showed that the drive-in was back down to one screen.
The Monitor of McAllen TX, on July 15, 2000, wrote about the history of the Town & Country, saying that it reopened July 7 that year “after almost 20 years of darkness”.
The article said the drive-in opened June 21, 1956, with a capacity over 1450. “At the time, it was billed as the largest drive-in in the Southwest.” It was then owned by C.D. “Toad” Leon of Abilene. He said, “I had moved to Abilene and was here a year without any visible means of support and they were going to arrest me for vagrancy, so I built the drive-in.”
Based on newspaper ads, it looks like the Circle was closed for a while before they tried to reboot it as the Cinema C. I couldn’t find Circle ads from August 1965 until the Cinema C’s Grand Opening. And it looks like the reboot didn’t take; I couldn’t find any Cinema C ads after October 1967.
The NE 66 changed to simply 66 (not Route 66) in 1962, then to the Cinema 66 in 1964. It was still active in May 1968, but the Barton chain was sold in June 1968 to Ferris Enterprises, which immediately closed the Cinema 66. Its final ad was May 31, 1968. The following week, the ad said “Closed for remodeling. Watch for re-opening later this summer!”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The Exhibitor: “J. E. Stribling, Gem, Davenport, Okla., opened his new Rig Drive-In, Davenport.”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The Exhibitor: “R. M. Downing, Crown, Collinsville, Okla., opened his new Cardinal Drive-In, Collinsville.”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The EXHIBITOR: “Video Independent Theatres opened the Sooner Drive-In, Miami, Okla., and the Airline Drive-In, Ponca City, Okla.”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The EXHIBITOR: “Video Independent Theatres opened the Sooner Drive-In, Miami, Okla., and the Airline Drive-In, Ponca City, Okla.”
According to ads in the Miami News-Record, the Tri-State didn’t change its name to the Sooner until after Aug. 21, 1963. It was the Sooner by Aug. 23, 1963.
The Page Theatre opened on Aug. 23, 1947, per a note in the Aug. 30, 1947 issue of BoxOffice.
The final night for Springfield’s Sunset Drive-In was Sunday, Sept. 4, 1983. Its final program was Naked Weekend, Center Fold Girls, Senior Snatch, and Miss Nude America, all rated R.
The Springfield’s final night was Oct. 7, 1978. On its final weekend, it ran a five-movie Ma and Pa Kettle marathon. Its newspaper ad read, “After being in business since 1947. This Saturday will be the last time you can see a movie at the Springfield Drive In. We will be closing down.”
By the way, the Film Daily Year Book that I mentioned here for listing the Park-In in its list of drive-ins, was wrong. It turned out that Springfield’s Park-In was an indoor theater was a confusing name.
According to notes in BoxOffice, the Springfield opened on Aug. 19, 1947, then held a “Formal Opening” on Sept. 19, 1947. Those notes:
Aug. 16, 1947: “Don Davis returned (to Kansas City) late last week from Springfield where Sam Taft will open his new drive-in next week.”
Aug. 23, 1947: “KANSAS CITY — Two new drive-ins have opened and one is to open soon in this territory. O. F. Sullivan’s second outdoor theatre in Wichita, with a capacity of 750 cars, and Sam Taft’s open-airer in Springfield, also with a 750-car capacity, opened this week. Perish Woodson plans to open his drive-in in Topeka within two weeks.”
Also Aug. 23, 1947: “SPRINGFIELD, MO. — The Springfield Drive-in Theatre, of 750-car capacity, was opened by owner Sam Taft, Tuesday, August 19. The new theatre is RCA-equipped throughout, including the latest type of in-the-car speakers. The order for the equipment was placed through Cine Supply of St. Louis and George McDonald of that company was here supervising the installation of equipment. For the past several years Taft has been manager of the Drive-in Theatre in Des Peres, near St. Louis.“
Sept. 20, 1947: “SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Drive-In, a mile east of town on No. 66, staged a grand opening Friday night, September 19. Accommodating 800 cars, the outdoor spot boasts of the finest equipment and appointments. If the weather remains normal, the situation will remain open for about two months, then will close until next April. The management advises that patrons on foot will be seated on comfortable chairs provided near the front.”
A 2018 issue of Rural Missouri, posted at the 19 Drive-In Facebook page, said that Donald Spreng owned and operated the drive-in from 1964 until his death in July 2011. It’s now run by the oldest of three children, Karen Spreng, who is a full-time student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. The opening of the 19 was delayed in 2019 because she was swamped with school work.
The Aug. 20, 1949 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review reported, “Rube Levin’s 700-car Hilltop Drive-In near Joliet has opened with Richard Kamens as manager.”
According to Chuck’s Photo Spot, David Friedman and Irwin Joseph bought the Hill-Top in the late summer of 1959.
Friedman’s book about the Hill-Top and much more, A Youth In Babylon, is currently available at the Internet Archive.
Two notes in the Showmen’s Trade Review verified that the Bel-Air, wrongly considered to be in Joliet, opened in the summer of 1949.
From Aug. 6, 1949: “The Bel-Air drive-in at Joliet, Ill., opened last week.”
Aug. 13: “C. S. Ashcraft of the Ashcraft Company on Long Island attended the opening of the 1,000-car Bel-Air drive-in at Joliet.”
The Crest’s Grand Opening ad was definitely on Aug. 7, so the July 30, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor must have described a soft opening or an anticipated opening:
Jim Randall, news director, KFBS, Joplin, Mo., was one of the 50 entrants in the contest to name Commonwealth’s new drive-in. Randall’s selection was the Crest, and he won a $25 bond and a season’s pass for two.
The Crest Drive-In, Joplin, Mo., opened. Doyle Mowrey, city manager for Joplin’s two drive-ins, is handling. A fireworks display was held. Innovations include a self-service boxoffice, which will expedite collection of admissions from patrons. Covering approximately all of a 13-acre tract of land, the new drive-in will accommodate 500 cars. The spot plans to remain open until Thanksgiving Day. It is being operated by Commonwealth Theatres, Inc., operator of the Tri-State Drive-In on West Seventh Street. Morey will be city manager of the two theatres, serving in a supervisory capacity.
The first program at the Crest was Ambush, starring Robert Taylor, plus a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and “Sportlife – other novelties”.
Opening night for the Sky Ranch in Santa Rosa NM was Aug. 15, 1952. Its first movie was California Conquest, plus double color cartoons.
From the Albuquerque Tribune June 6, 1963, discussing the closing career of Milas L. Hurley, operator of Hurley Theatres, “The Princess was the hard-luck theater of the three. A morning fire in February, 1943, gutted most of the building. … Almost 20 years later, in October, 1962, fire again struck the theater, partially destroying the front. … The theater has been closed since”.