River Breeze Drive-In
6110 Asheville Highway,
Knoxville,
TN
37924
6110 Asheville Highway,
Knoxville,
TN
37924
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The theater is now up for sale. I live a mile from there and the offical for sale sign went up a couple of weeks agao by a real estate company. The Projector, booth, ticket booth and the concession stand ( straight from the 60’s) is fully intact. The current owner was keeping the snack bar “Opened” on weekends for insurance purposes I think. It would be a restorable option, but I fear the riverfront property will go condos or a nursing home or something like that. Anyone want to buy it, let me know and I’ll post the info on the sign.
the large brick home was where the owners lived. A few years back they had an estate sale and my brother bought a few of the old speakers and bits of this and that. I got my first hickey at this drive-in when I was a senior in high school.
Google Earth has a nice photo of the River Breeze site (see address above). Though the screen is long gone, the parking lot and its curved rows are still clearly visible. The entrance drive is also clearly visible, though some newer buildings seem to have been constructed across it. Or is that the box office? Is that the projection/concessions building still standing in the middle of the site? I’ve never been to the flea market even just to poke around looking for drive-in artifacts.
Actually I remember the old Horne Drive-In’s screen was the back of a retail building on Chapman Highway. The block rear wall extended well over the roof line of the building. I used to play golf in 1974-76 at an old par-3 course located across the street. This is when I noticed the strange looking building and realized that there was a drive in located there at one time. All of it was torn down in the early 80’s to build a K-Mart, which has since closed.
I remember that house being on the left as you drove into the theater after you went through ticket booth, so it was not part of the screen tower. The screen was free standing and the back of the screen was very close to the bridge.
However, for a great photo of a screen tower house, go to listing for the Sunset Drive In in Shinnston WV to see an example in a still open 60 year old drive in.
Bob, There is a red-brick 1950’s era colonial house still standing on the River Breeze property. Was this part of the screen tower? I’ve seen a couple of designs (in old trade journals) where the screen tower sort of grew out of the house. The house would be where the manager and his family lived. It was one twisted architect that came up with that idea!
There’s a great book waiting to be written about growing up living in the base of the drive-in movie theatre screen.