I found an old USGS topographical map at http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/ which shows a drive-in theatre at approximately 42.1726595, -71.094632, or here on Google Maps. Looks like some office buildings are there now.
Unfortunately Google Maps does not know the name of the small side street off Turnpike Street — it is unmarked even at the highest resolution level, but runs east off Turnpike, south of Pequot Way and north of Whitman Road.
What is now at the location where the drive-in was?
This person claims to have watched Groove Tube there in July 1981.
This page claims that it closed on August 12, 1984. It also has these items:
April 15, 1971: The Selectmen have expressed their displeasure at the type of movie fare presented at the Blue Hills Drive-In, particularly in connection with the drive-in’s popularity with teenagers, many of whom have stated that it is not difficult for a teenager under 18 to drive in to see an X-rated movie.
April 22, 1971: The manager of the Blue Hills Drive-In has contacted the Selectmen to assure them that he will do his best to upgrade the films shown at the drive-in. He hopes to get more films rated for family viewing and to obtain only those X-rated films that are considered superior.
As an early teenager reading these ads, I found it strange that ‘art’ was used as a synonym for ‘porn’ — not just here, but also at the Little Art Theatre and the chain that owned the Bexley and World.
I know that the Bexley and World did for a while legitimately show foreign art films that were not porn. Did the Livingston Art and Little Art ever do so?
I moved to Columbus in 1968 and recall it advertising in the Dispatch and Citizen-Journal as the Livingston Art (but showing porn), so I guess the Gayety name did not last long.
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville, including the Teele Square.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville, including the Strand.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
Rocklord, do you happen to know when it closed as the State movie theatre and when it reopened as the Agora concert hall? (And, for that matter, when the name changed from Agora to Newport?)
Can you add the Boulevard, Southland, and Westmont to CinemaTreasures? I do not remember advertising for the last two at all — they must have already been closed by the time I moved to Columbus in 1968.
Thanks. Can you add it to CinemaTreasures? I remember that they used to advertise regularly in the Dispatch and Citizen-Journal along with their sister theatre, the ‘New Paris’ on Parsons Ave.
I found an old USGS topographical map at http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/ which shows a drive-in theatre at approximately 42.1726595, -71.094632, or here on Google Maps. Looks like some office buildings are there now.
Unfortunately Google Maps does not know the name of the small side street off Turnpike Street — it is unmarked even at the highest resolution level, but runs east off Turnpike, south of Pequot Way and north of Whitman Road.
What is now at the location where the drive-in was?
This person claims to have watched Groove Tube there in July 1981.
This page claims that it closed on August 12, 1984. It also has these items:
April 15, 1971: The Selectmen have expressed their displeasure at the type of movie fare presented at the Blue Hills Drive-In, particularly in connection with the drive-in’s popularity with teenagers, many of whom have stated that it is not difficult for a teenager under 18 to drive in to see an X-rated movie.
April 22, 1971: The manager of the Blue Hills Drive-In has contacted the Selectmen to assure them that he will do his best to upgrade the films shown at the drive-in. He hopes to get more films rated for family viewing and to obtain only those X-rated films that are considered superior.
As an early teenager reading these ads, I found it strange that ‘art’ was used as a synonym for ‘porn’ — not just here, but also at the Little Art Theatre and the chain that owned the Bexley and World.
I know that the Bexley and World did for a while legitimately show foreign art films that were not porn. Did the Livingston Art and Little Art ever do so?
I moved to Columbus in 1968 and recall it advertising in the Dispatch and Citizen-Journal as the Livingston Art (but showing porn), so I guess the Gayety name did not last long.
Do you have any idea when and why they changed their booking policy to porn?
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville, including the Teele Square.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville, including the Strand.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .
Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville.
(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)
Can someone confirm whether this theatre was demolished or whether it is still standing empty?
Concert halls and stages? Will this require a lot of remodeling to accommodate live shows?
Here is their web site: http://marketplaceoftheamericas.com/
but it still says “8 screen movie theatre FOR RENT” — http://marketplaceoftheamericas.com/theatre.html
Harrison West is a pretty fashionable neighborhood these days. Too bad the theatre was demolished just before the area regained popularity.
Rocklord, do you happen to know when it closed as the State movie theatre and when it reopened as the Agora concert hall? (And, for that matter, when the name changed from Agora to Newport?)
Can you add the Boulevard, Southland, and Westmont to CinemaTreasures? I do not remember advertising for the last two at all — they must have already been closed by the time I moved to Columbus in 1968.
I’ll ask CinemaTreasures to fix the Description header appropriately.
Thanks. Can you add it to CinemaTreasures? I remember that they used to advertise regularly in the Dispatch and Citizen-Journal along with their sister theatre, the ‘New Paris’ on Parsons Ave.
Thanks for the correct, MarkL. So Loew’s named this theatre after a place it was next to rather than a place where was actually located?