Not gonna lie, it would take some work to re-open this drive-in. The way the parking lot sits, traffic would have to be re-routed to pass in front of the screen and down the south side of the property. And, there is a big pile of dirt in front of the screen that needs to be addressed.
Those are not big issues in an of themselves, but someone will have to crunch the numbers of expected ticket sales vs. cost to determine if re-opening this drive-in is viable.
I believe that all traces of the box office was removed by 2006. The long, rectangular slab present near what was the entrance and the main road does not appear until 2006.
Plus, there is a similar slab further up what was the entrance road that also doesn’t appear until 2006. Both seem unrelated to the drive-in.
I can find no trace of the old drive-in remaining. But on a side note, all the stuff piled up in the backyard of 1207 Big Sky Court makes me wonder just what is going on? ;)
In addition to the outline and ramps, the foundations of the projection booth/concession stand and ticket booths are still present.
There is also a square foundation near where the screen was located, but I’m not sure based on the aerials what it was. Although it can be seen in the 1972 aerial, so it is related to the drive-in.
Funny that the land hasn’t been developed for housing. A June 2022 Google Street View shows a new house being built just to the east of the drive-in.
The 1967 aerial photo is not misdated. It clearly shows Tulsa as it was in 1967 which includes a twinned 11th Street Drive-In.
First, a 1968 Topo map shows the drive-in twinned. Now, topo maps can be terribly out of date, but they don’t add things that are not there.
The same 1967 aerial photo shows the Skyview Drive-In open and operational when it was closed in 1970 and demolished shortly afterwards.
HWY 75 North, which construction began by 1969 and was completed by 1977 doesn’t exist. Eastland Mall, which was almost completed by the mid-1970s doesn’t exist in the photo either.
I can go on, but the aerial photo is accurate. The ad is wrong.
The faint outline of the entrance drive is now gone. The only remnant left is the ramps from Pine Street which indicated where the entrance and exit roads were located.
A May 2023 Google Street View shows the marquee and ticket booth gone along with a small part of the wall in front of the main screen. Both screens and projection booth/concession stand are still up.
The place seems to be a construction equipment business.
An unusual, though not totally unique design as the screen sat on the opposite side of a creek well away from the ramps. The small projection booth sat in front of the ramps while the concession stand was next to the road.
I see no evidence that the marquee made it into the 2000s. The historic aerials show no marquee, although it may have been next to or near the concession stand.
There is the “Welcome to Monticello” sign that has a brick base not unlike many drive-in marquees, but it was not present in 1965 and does not show up until 1983.
A 1953 aerial shows the drive-in operational and the area in the back cleared for the second screen as mentioned by warrior515, but empty.
Still present in a 1966 aerial, but totally gone by 1973 as it was replaced by a large warehouse.
There is a noticeable growth of grass along some of the ramps from 1964 to 1966. This may indicate that the drive-in was no longer operational, but it was still intact so it may have closed at a later date.
A gas station on the north side has expanded to take up part of the property. The rest has been razed leaving behind no trace that a drive-in ever existed.
The drive-in was still intact in 1982, but it’s difficult to tell if it was operational. By 1985, the drive-in was demolished. By 1993, the entire property had been razed which removed all traces of the drive-in.
Today, a post office sits on the southern part of the property.
The concession stand/projector booth was still up in 2000, but had been demolished by 2007. The marquee also appears to have been removed as well. At that time, the property was still fairly open, but a few years later it became completely overgrown with trees.
Apart from the outline, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Google Maps show a faint outline of the drive-in. But a September 2022 Street View shows the property under construction with massive amounts of dirt having been placed.
So, whatever faint remains of the drive-in remained, they are now completely gone.
A closer address is 616 N Nugent Ave, Johnson City, TX.
That is the location of the screen which is now being used as a residence. You can see the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand behind the house.
A 1966 aerial does not reveal much as it appears the drive-in was long closed by this time. You can see the screen and another house nearby.
There is no way the drive-in held 300 vehicles. Even if you take out the trees, there is a creek that runs not far behind where the projection booth/concession stand was at. Plus, the trees were present in 1966 anyway.
30 cars appears to be its capacity which never changed. The 300 was probably a typo and given that it was probably closed by 1963 anyway, it’s not an entry that can be trusted.
I highly doubt this is the address to a drive-in. A 1955 aerial shows the same building in place at the entrance which still exists today. Plus, there is the issue of a landing strip which I cannot find either in aerials or topo maps near the town.
A search of the 1955 and 1982 aerials show nothing resembling a drive-in around the area. That doesn’t mean a drive-in didn’t exist. It could mean that it was built after 1955 and totally demolished by 1982.
Again, more proof is needed to accurately place the drive-in, especially if a landing strip was nearby.
That looks more like a demolished drive-in to me. There is no construction equipment, no materials, and strong indications that the screen has been removed, not being built.
So, this isn’t the Lakeview Drive-In or it closed and was demolished well before 1959.
That’s exactly what I said, a “chunk”, not the entire drive-in.
But it might as well have been the entire drive-in. ;)
Not gonna lie, it would take some work to re-open this drive-in. The way the parking lot sits, traffic would have to be re-routed to pass in front of the screen and down the south side of the property. And, there is a big pile of dirt in front of the screen that needs to be addressed.
Those are not big issues in an of themselves, but someone will have to crunch the numbers of expected ticket sales vs. cost to determine if re-opening this drive-in is viable.
I believe that all traces of the box office was removed by 2006. The long, rectangular slab present near what was the entrance and the main road does not appear until 2006.
Plus, there is a similar slab further up what was the entrance road that also doesn’t appear until 2006. Both seem unrelated to the drive-in.
I can find no trace of the old drive-in remaining. But on a side note, all the stuff piled up in the backyard of 1207 Big Sky Court makes me wonder just what is going on? ;)
In addition to the outline and ramps, the foundations of the projection booth/concession stand and ticket booths are still present.
There is also a square foundation near where the screen was located, but I’m not sure based on the aerials what it was. Although it can be seen in the 1972 aerial, so it is related to the drive-in.
Funny that the land hasn’t been developed for housing. A June 2022 Google Street View shows a new house being built just to the east of the drive-in.
A closer address is 1648 Blazen Rd, Conrad, MT.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
It is now private property, but you can still see the outline, ramps, and the projection booth/concession stand is still present.
https://tinyurl.com/y5cyr8vd
The 1967 aerial photo is not misdated. It clearly shows Tulsa as it was in 1967 which includes a twinned 11th Street Drive-In.
First, a 1968 Topo map shows the drive-in twinned. Now, topo maps can be terribly out of date, but they don’t add things that are not there.
The same 1967 aerial photo shows the Skyview Drive-In open and operational when it was closed in 1970 and demolished shortly afterwards.
HWY 75 North, which construction began by 1969 and was completed by 1977 doesn’t exist. Eastland Mall, which was almost completed by the mid-1970s doesn’t exist in the photo either.
I can go on, but the aerial photo is accurate. The ad is wrong.
The faint outline of the entrance drive is now gone. The only remnant left is the ramps from Pine Street which indicated where the entrance and exit roads were located.
A May 2023 Google Street View shows the marquee and ticket booth gone along with a small part of the wall in front of the main screen. Both screens and projection booth/concession stand are still up.
The place seems to be a construction equipment business.
An unusual, though not totally unique design as the screen sat on the opposite side of a creek well away from the ramps. The small projection booth sat in front of the ramps while the concession stand was next to the road.
I see no evidence that the marquee made it into the 2000s. The historic aerials show no marquee, although it may have been next to or near the concession stand.
There is the “Welcome to Monticello” sign that has a brick base not unlike many drive-in marquees, but it was not present in 1965 and does not show up until 1983.
A 1963 aerial shows the screen still up, but the drive-in appears closed and partially demolished.
The Wheatley was less than a half-mile due east of the Sunset Drive-In.
A closer address is 1985 California Ave SW, Camden, AR.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
Today, a closed car dealership sits on part of the property. But you can still see most of the ramps along with the outline of the drive-in.
https://tinyurl.com/yseppfmk
A 1953 aerial shows the drive-in operational and the area in the back cleared for the second screen as mentioned by warrior515, but empty.
Still present in a 1966 aerial, but totally gone by 1973 as it was replaced by a large warehouse.
There is a noticeable growth of grass along some of the ramps from 1964 to 1966. This may indicate that the drive-in was no longer operational, but it was still intact so it may have closed at a later date.
A 1976 aerial shows the drive-in to be demolished. By 2010, all remaining traces of the drive-in were removed.
A gas station on the north side has expanded to take up part of the property. The rest has been razed leaving behind no trace that a drive-in ever existed.
The marquee was removed by 1981. You can still see its rectangular base until 1993.
Today, even the base is gone. A sign for the prison sits just a few feet away from where the marquee once stood.
The larger, square-like concrete base that is still present is not the marquee. That didn’t appear until 1993.
The concession stand/projection booth is rubble. The only thing left is the marquee.
The drive-in was still intact in 1982, but it’s difficult to tell if it was operational. By 1985, the drive-in was demolished. By 1993, the entire property had been razed which removed all traces of the drive-in.
Today, a post office sits on the southern part of the property.
The concession stand/projector booth was still up in 2000, but had been demolished by 2007. The marquee also appears to have been removed as well. At that time, the property was still fairly open, but a few years later it became completely overgrown with trees.
Apart from the outline, there is no trace of the drive-in remaining.
Google Maps show a faint outline of the drive-in. But a September 2022 Street View shows the property under construction with massive amounts of dirt having been placed.
So, whatever faint remains of the drive-in remained, they are now completely gone.
A closer address is 1904 Emmet St N, Charlottesville, VA.
Today, a Kroger sits on the property with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
https://tinyurl.com/3dabjr83
A 1955 aerial shows the demolished remains of the drive-in.
Today, the property is underneath the cloverleaf of WA-512 and I-5 with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
A closer address is 616 N Nugent Ave, Johnson City, TX.
That is the location of the screen which is now being used as a residence. You can see the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand behind the house.
A 1966 aerial does not reveal much as it appears the drive-in was long closed by this time. You can see the screen and another house nearby.
There is no way the drive-in held 300 vehicles. Even if you take out the trees, there is a creek that runs not far behind where the projection booth/concession stand was at. Plus, the trees were present in 1966 anyway.
30 cars appears to be its capacity which never changed. The 300 was probably a typo and given that it was probably closed by 1963 anyway, it’s not an entry that can be trusted.
https://tinyurl.com/4vfakveh
I highly doubt this is the address to a drive-in. A 1955 aerial shows the same building in place at the entrance which still exists today. Plus, there is the issue of a landing strip which I cannot find either in aerials or topo maps near the town.
A search of the 1955 and 1982 aerials show nothing resembling a drive-in around the area. That doesn’t mean a drive-in didn’t exist. It could mean that it was built after 1955 and totally demolished by 1982.
Again, more proof is needed to accurately place the drive-in, especially if a landing strip was nearby.
That looks more like a demolished drive-in to me. There is no construction equipment, no materials, and strong indications that the screen has been removed, not being built.
So, this isn’t the Lakeview Drive-In or it closed and was demolished well before 1959.
Only the foundation of the projection booth/concession stand still exists from the drive-in.