This may be relevant. The Oct. 23, 1961 issue of Boxoffice included an ad from an auction company for a 350-car drive-in “located 3 miles N. of Richmond, Ky. on U. S. 25 in Madison County / Due to the death of a member of the corporation, this Drive-In Theatre will be sold at absolute auction. It is improved with a Steel CinemaScope Screen Tower, modern and efficiently equipped concession building, RCA equipment, and is situation on 16 acres of land.”
Since I’m always looking for (or inventing) connections, maybe one of the Redas passed away, then the future Eastern owner bought the place. The dates and location match.
Then again, here’s the caption to a small photo of a crumpled screen that appeared in the Aug. 15, 1966 issue of Boxoffice: “The screen tower at the Eastern Drive-In, Richmond, Ky., was blown down and damaged July 14 in gale-like winds. The drive-in is managed by Mose Reda, a 40-year veteran of the theatre business. His son Tony is manager of the Michigan Drive-In at Detroit and a brother Don is manager of the Jolly Roger outdoor theatre, also in Detroit.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 31, 1966: “M. C. Hughes, McKee; Frank Carnahan, Ormond Beach, Fla., and Glenn Peters, Richmond, are the new owners of the Richmond Drive-In on Berea Road. The airer was purchased from stockholders in Cumberland View, Inc.”
The May 4, 1962 issue of the Eastern Progress, Eastern Kentucky State’s student newspaper, included an ad for “Eastern Drive-In Theatre / (Formerly Reda Drive-In)”. The ad said the Eastern would open for the season on May 10.
Ads for the Eastern described its location as “2½ miles North of Richmond on U.S. 25.” The Eastern advertised in the Progress through at least May 20, 1966, the last ad I could find.
The Exhibitor, May 24, 1950: “Arthur C. Craig opened the new Lake Carlisle Drive-In, Richmond, Ky.”
The Exhibitor, June 21, 1950: “ The new Lake Carlisle Drive-In at Richmond, Ky., opened on June 14.”
(I would interpret those two notes to say that, although it was scheduled to open in May, the Lake Carlisle really opened on June 14, 1950.)
The huge list of 1950 drive-in projects printed in the Feb. 17, 1951 issue of Boxoffice indicated that the Lake Carlisle had opened in 1950. It was listed with a capacity of 500 cars and owned by Arthur C. Craig.
The Exhibitor, March 12, 1952: “Ernie Reda, recently released from the army, is managing the Reda Drive-In, Richmond, Ky.”
In a 2012 story in the Palm Beach Post, William Glenn Mize said that his father, who managed the Delray, and his family lived in a house under the movie screen.
And here’s the Internet Archive link to David Schneider’s now-inaccessible Palm Beach Post story.
Let me transcribe some of the July 10, 1973 newspaper clipping, contributed by elmorovivo. (I dated it from the AP news story on the page.) It said that Juan “Contreres” (sic) had earlier sold the Muse-U to Reed & Reed Distributors of New York. Clifford Reed took over at that point, renaming it “The Cinema.”
“After Reed left Tularosa for the East, the building sat vacant, and just a short time ago, Security Bank & Trust took it over.” Then came a fire on the evening July 9 which gutted the old theater building.
A 25 Years Ago note in the Alamogordo Daily News remembered that in February 1946, Alva Sitton Jr. of Tularosa partnered with “Mr. Blaylock of Ruidoso” to buy Carrizozo’s Lyric Theatre.
A small correction on the date when Baca Theaters (aka Bernard Newman) bought the former Apache.
Boxoffice, Feb. 17, 1964: “Bernie Newman, who operates the Gem Theatre in Walsh, has purchased the Apache Drive-In, Springfield, and the theater is being remodeled prior to being reopend in May”
While researching the Sky-Vue Drive-In, I happened upon the Gila’s transition to Dollison.
Boxoffice, August 24, 1967: “Lowell Cain, Silco Theatres, Silver City, N.M., was re-elected for another term as mayor of Silver City.”
Boxoffice, April 15, 1968: “About 80 high school and college students picketed the Gila Theatre in downtown Silver City after it was announced that the hardtop film house was closing down. Silver City theatreman Lowell Cain, who manages the house as well as serves as mayor of this city of 6,900 persons … said that henceforth all first-run pictures normally run at the Gila will be shown at the Skyview (sic) Drive-In, which Cain also manages.”
Boxoffice, May 13, 1968: “Lester Dollison will reopen the Gila Theatre in Silver City, N.M. The house had been operated by Lowell Cain who closed it about a month ago. The reopening will be set after the installation of new seating and projection equipment. Dollison also operates the Starlighter Drive-In in Silver City, in addition to theaters in Espanola, Santa Rosa and Socorro, N.M.”
Digging through some notes, I noticed that Floyd Davis was from Springfield, so that explains why the 85 project was listed with a Springfield, Colorado dateline.
And I found a mention of the exact opening date. Boxoffice, Dec. 3, 1949: “RATON, N. M. - J. E. Oliver, owner of the Plaza Food store, has purchased the 85 Drive-In here from Floyd W. Davis of Springfield, Colo., and Nat Jones of Abernathy, Tex. The theatre opened last June 15.”
According to his El Paso Times obituary, U. A. Kane, who also built the Rocket in Las Cruces NM, owned El Paso’s Rocket and Bronco drive-ins. Kane lived in El Paso for 20 years and died there in 1985.
Here’s a quote that says the Aggie stayed open until 1994.
Santa Fe New Mexican, Feb. 3, 1995: “the Aggie Drive-In in Las Cruces, the only one in that city, closed six months ago, said Harold Cousland, Las Cruces Sun News editor.”
The address of the mobile home park that covers the old Aggie site and much more is 1751 W Hadley Ave.
Silver City Daily Press, April 15, 1971: “Sale of the Sky Vue Drive in Theater was announced today by Lowell Cain and the new owner U. A. Kane of El Paso. Kane said his plans include a complete remodeling of the theater including the addition of a second screen to permit showing of two features at once. He will move to Silver City with his family to assume management of his new property as soon as he can complete a house, he said. Kane is an experienced theater operator, having owned three El Paso drive-in theaters which he recently sold to the McClendon Corp. of Dallas. He said the construction on the second screen will begin “right away, as soon as I can get a building permit.” He added the theater will remain open during the construction and remodeling operations.”
The second screen became operational between August 20, when its Daily Press ad said “Screen 2 Opening Soon”, and August 23, when it was advertising movies on both screens.
I just posted the Valley’s opening night newspaper ad from August 11, 1954. Its first program was “Iron Mistress” with Alan Ladd and “The Texas Rangers” with George Montgomery.
The best address for the former Chico / Starlighter on Google Maps today is 1712 N Riverside Dr, where a tire store sits on the former drive-in’s entrance road.
To provide a source for dallasmovietheaters' accurate note, the Fayetteville Flyer reported that the 112’s final night would be Aug. 27, showing Footloose and Grease.
The Flyer said that an attorney for the buyers “told the city council back in the spring that the new owners plan to include a drive-in theater somewhere on the property.” There’s always hope.
Boxoffice, May 2, 1966: “Mrs. J. J. Rosenthal and Mrs. M. M. Botto have reopened their Skyway Drive-In on Dawson Road offering two complete shows each evening. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers Pickering are in charge of the Skyway’s concessions. Other staffers are Tommy Farmer, projectionist, and Mrs. Harold McGowan, cashier.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 23, 1950: “Roscoe Perdue … furnished Ballantyne equipment for the Anita Drive-In at Princeton, W. Va., opened last month by Louis Skeens.”
This may be relevant. The Oct. 23, 1961 issue of Boxoffice included an ad from an auction company for a 350-car drive-in “located 3 miles N. of Richmond, Ky. on U. S. 25 in Madison County / Due to the death of a member of the corporation, this Drive-In Theatre will be sold at absolute auction. It is improved with a Steel CinemaScope Screen Tower, modern and efficiently equipped concession building, RCA equipment, and is situation on 16 acres of land.”
Since I’m always looking for (or inventing) connections, maybe one of the Redas passed away, then the future Eastern owner bought the place. The dates and location match.
Then again, here’s the caption to a small photo of a crumpled screen that appeared in the Aug. 15, 1966 issue of Boxoffice: “The screen tower at the Eastern Drive-In, Richmond, Ky., was blown down and damaged July 14 in gale-like winds. The drive-in is managed by Mose Reda, a 40-year veteran of the theatre business. His son Tony is manager of the Michigan Drive-In at Detroit and a brother Don is manager of the Jolly Roger outdoor theatre, also in Detroit.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 31, 1966: “M. C. Hughes, McKee; Frank Carnahan, Ormond Beach, Fla., and Glenn Peters, Richmond, are the new owners of the Richmond Drive-In on Berea Road. The airer was purchased from stockholders in Cumberland View, Inc.”
The May 4, 1962 issue of the Eastern Progress, Eastern Kentucky State’s student newspaper, included an ad for “Eastern Drive-In Theatre / (Formerly Reda Drive-In)”. The ad said the Eastern would open for the season on May 10.
Ads for the Eastern described its location as “2½ miles North of Richmond on U.S. 25.” The Eastern advertised in the Progress through at least May 20, 1966, the last ad I could find.
The Exhibitor, May 24, 1950: “Arthur C. Craig opened the new Lake Carlisle Drive-In, Richmond, Ky.”
The Exhibitor, June 21, 1950: “ The new Lake Carlisle Drive-In at Richmond, Ky., opened on June 14.”
(I would interpret those two notes to say that, although it was scheduled to open in May, the Lake Carlisle really opened on June 14, 1950.)
The huge list of 1950 drive-in projects printed in the Feb. 17, 1951 issue of Boxoffice indicated that the Lake Carlisle had opened in 1950. It was listed with a capacity of 500 cars and owned by Arthur C. Craig.
The Exhibitor, March 12, 1952: “Ernie Reda, recently released from the army, is managing the Reda Drive-In, Richmond, Ky.”
Here’s the grand opening ad from Jan. 7, 1949, originally clipped by CT friend rivest. It’s even got a photo of owner Walter E. Foley, Jr.
In a 2012 story in the Palm Beach Post, William Glenn Mize said that his father, who managed the Delray, and his family lived in a house under the movie screen.
And here’s the Internet Archive link to David Schneider’s now-inaccessible Palm Beach Post story.
Let me transcribe some of the July 10, 1973 newspaper clipping, contributed by elmorovivo. (I dated it from the AP news story on the page.) It said that Juan “Contreres” (sic) had earlier sold the Muse-U to Reed & Reed Distributors of New York. Clifford Reed took over at that point, renaming it “The Cinema.”
“After Reed left Tularosa for the East, the building sat vacant, and just a short time ago, Security Bank & Trust took it over.” Then came a fire on the evening July 9 which gutted the old theater building.
A 25 Years Ago note in the Alamogordo Daily News remembered that in February 1946, Alva Sitton Jr. of Tularosa partnered with “Mr. Blaylock of Ruidoso” to buy Carrizozo’s Lyric Theatre.
More than one Silco, or false alarm?
Boxoffice, Nov. 30, 1964: “The Silco Theatre in Silver City, N.M., is being converted into a furniture store”
A small correction on the date when Baca Theaters (aka Bernard Newman) bought the former Apache.
Boxoffice, Feb. 17, 1964: “Bernie Newman, who operates the Gem Theatre in Walsh, has purchased the Apache Drive-In, Springfield, and the theater is being remodeled prior to being reopend in May”
Boxoffice, July 12, 1965: “The Ritz in south Denver has a marquee which proclaims in large letters "Gone for Coffee - Be Back Soon.” "
While researching the Sky-Vue Drive-In, I happened upon the Gila’s transition to Dollison.
Boxoffice, August 24, 1967: “Lowell Cain, Silco Theatres, Silver City, N.M., was re-elected for another term as mayor of Silver City.”
Boxoffice, April 15, 1968: “About 80 high school and college students picketed the Gila Theatre in downtown Silver City after it was announced that the hardtop film house was closing down. Silver City theatreman Lowell Cain, who manages the house as well as serves as mayor of this city of 6,900 persons … said that henceforth all first-run pictures normally run at the Gila will be shown at the Skyview (sic) Drive-In, which Cain also manages.”
Boxoffice, May 13, 1968: “Lester Dollison will reopen the Gila Theatre in Silver City, N.M. The house had been operated by Lowell Cain who closed it about a month ago. The reopening will be set after the installation of new seating and projection equipment. Dollison also operates the Starlighter Drive-In in Silver City, in addition to theaters in Espanola, Santa Rosa and Socorro, N.M.”
Based on news stories and ads in the Ruidoso News, the Downs opened on May 7, 1959 with “The Wild and the Innocent,” and closed on August 30, 1976.
Sorry, davidcoppock, but the buildings that were on either side of the Downs in 1982 (per aerial photo) are all gone now.
Digging through some notes, I noticed that Floyd Davis was from Springfield, so that explains why the 85 project was listed with a Springfield, Colorado dateline.
And I found a mention of the exact opening date. Boxoffice, Dec. 3, 1949: “RATON, N. M. - J. E. Oliver, owner of the Plaza Food store, has purchased the 85 Drive-In here from Floyd W. Davis of Springfield, Colo., and Nat Jones of Abernathy, Tex. The theatre opened last June 15.”
Google Maps now likes the address 4400 Main St.
The building closest to the site of the Rocket’s screen tower is the bank at 2400 N Main St.
According to his El Paso Times obituary, U. A. Kane, who also built the Rocket in Las Cruces NM, owned El Paso’s Rocket and Bronco drive-ins. Kane lived in El Paso for 20 years and died there in 1985.
Here’s a quote that says the Aggie stayed open until 1994.
Santa Fe New Mexican, Feb. 3, 1995: “the Aggie Drive-In in Las Cruces, the only one in that city, closed six months ago, said Harold Cousland, Las Cruces Sun News editor.”
The address of the mobile home park that covers the old Aggie site and much more is 1751 W Hadley Ave.
Silver City Daily Press, April 15, 1971: “Sale of the Sky Vue Drive in Theater was announced today by Lowell Cain and the new owner U. A. Kane of El Paso. Kane said his plans include a complete remodeling of the theater including the addition of a second screen to permit showing of two features at once. He will move to Silver City with his family to assume management of his new property as soon as he can complete a house, he said. Kane is an experienced theater operator, having owned three El Paso drive-in theaters which he recently sold to the McClendon Corp. of Dallas. He said the construction on the second screen will begin “right away, as soon as I can get a building permit.” He added the theater will remain open during the construction and remodeling operations.”
The second screen became operational between August 20, when its Daily Press ad said “Screen 2 Opening Soon”, and August 23, when it was advertising movies on both screens.
I just posted the Valley’s opening night newspaper ad from August 11, 1954. Its first program was “Iron Mistress” with Alan Ladd and “The Texas Rangers” with George Montgomery.
The best address for the former Chico / Starlighter on Google Maps today is 1712 N Riverside Dr, where a tire store sits on the former drive-in’s entrance road.
To provide a source for dallasmovietheaters' accurate note, the Fayetteville Flyer reported that the 112’s final night would be Aug. 27, showing Footloose and Grease.
The Flyer said that an attorney for the buyers “told the city council back in the spring that the new owners plan to include a drive-in theater somewhere on the property.” There’s always hope.
Boxoffice, Nov. 26, 1949: “Princeton, Ind. - Princeton Drive-In purchased by Ted Mendelssohn.”
Boxoffice, May 2, 1966: “Mrs. J. J. Rosenthal and Mrs. M. M. Botto have reopened their Skyway Drive-In on Dawson Road offering two complete shows each evening. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers Pickering are in charge of the Skyway’s concessions. Other staffers are Tommy Farmer, projectionist, and Mrs. Harold McGowan, cashier.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 23, 1950: “Roscoe Perdue … furnished Ballantyne equipment for the Anita Drive-In at Princeton, W. Va., opened last month by Louis Skeens.”