Wow-maybe I’m missing something, maybe the extremely negative (albeit, ancient) comments are directed at a different theatre someone had in mind or maybe the author(s) of these comments have some underlying agenda against this theatre and/or its management/owner because after doing a whopping 5 minutes of Google research, I have determined with 100% certainty that this theatre is not only a bona-fide movie theatre but an extremely unique one at that. I’ve never been to this theatre (or city, or state for that matter) and stumbled upon this listing purely by accident however the said comments intrigued me enough to take a closer look. There is a screen (no TVs in sight), a professionally decorated auditorium (albeit tables instead of fixed seating which makes perfect sense, given the venue), it’s been around for well over 30 years, had/has 35mm projection,went through the same struggle as all the rest regarding digital conversion, etc. Assuming that the negative author isn’t thinking of someplace else and/or doesn’t have an underlying agenda against this place, it does bring up a very interesting question: what is a movie theatre? What is a cinema treasure? To me, and I’d imagine most of us, it’s a venue that shows motion pictures to the public for entertainment (and sometimes, education/enlightenment) while respecting copyright laws. Period. It’s a beloved place (with or without walls) where people gather together to watch movies, regardless of the quality of the location, it’s facilities, staff, showmanship, etc. Not every theatre is The Radio City Music Hall or Bengies Drive-In. Of course, any who know me personally or have kept track of my photo uploads, theatre uploads and comments can easily attest to the fact that while I cherish the undeniable majesty of the great movie palace and find its demise despicable, nothing fascinates me quite like that little 120 seat movie house in population 200 West Virginia that only lasted from 1935-1950 or that haphazardly built and operated 200 car drive-in built in 1975 in the worst part of Chicago that only lasted long enough for the land to gain enough value for development.
My taste, of course, is mine alone, and not something I expect or demand anyone else to share but my definition of a theatre, a cinema treasure and the respect I demand for all of them is what’s correct and something that anyone & everyone who claims a love for theatres should share.
While I usually don’t post photos that are not my own or of my own artifacts (unless it is a particularly rare photo of a particularly rare theatre that would not be represented otherwise), least of all, one that is still operating, I am going to post a couple restriction-free ones I snagged off Google simply to clear this theatre’s name. I will also try to post the links to a few articles about it in a future comment.
Something appears to be wrong with this listing-if you search Trimble, TN on the site, the town comes up but says that there are no theatres listed. If you search for Sondra Theatre, you get the same result. The only way I personally can get to this listing is by Googling it. Any idea what’s going on?
The 5100 Wadsworth address that was on the duplicate listing for this theatre that was recently remove is, I believe, much more likely the correct/closer to correct address than the 5050 that is listed here now. The listings for this theatre on Cinematour and drive-ins.com also have 5100 as the address. One long time union operator in the area who worked several shifts here says that one of the exit/entrance ramps to I-70 from Wadsworth sits on part of the old theatre site.
I’m not presently able to find an address on any of my artifacts, documents or ephemera or online that provides and address for the theatre. Does anyone have access to a source to verify the address?
Also, there was a really cool old arial veiw of the theatre that was on the duplicate listing but unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it was moved over here. Is it stil available that someone can repost it?
Last but not least, this was an old Wolberg Theatres/Compass Drive-In Theatres and the description/ previous operators part of this listing should be updated to reflect this.
I spoke with Darold Albertson, the Midway’s current owner, the other day and he confirmed the theatre closed around 2013 due mainly to lack of funds to make the digital conversion as well as some attendance issues. The theatre is, however, for sale and he believe he will be finalizing the sale to a group that formed to reopen the theatre for live events and/or movies.
Prior to that the theatre has been running regularly; as with most businesses, organizations and even local government agencies in that part of the state, the Midway never had any web presence. No website,social media pages, online movie times or even a showtime recording on the phone which is why it “looked closed”.
So sadly, for now, status should be changed to CLOSED although we’ll have to keep an eye on it and change it again once the group gets it running once again!
The address for this theatre was 12600 East Colfax Avenue Aurora,CO 80011. There is a duplicate listing for this theatre listed as The East, which I have recommended be removed and combined with this page as they’re one in the same. Additionally, no one around here,including longtime Union projectionists and others in the theatre business locally, ever knew this theatre to be called the “70mm” East-just the East 70 or more commonly, the East. While there were indeed intentions of and even some preparations in the booth for showing 70mm, this theatre never did. The only drive-in theatre in the Denver metro area (and most likely the entire state of Colorado) to run 70mm was The North Star.
The theatre name listed really should be changed to just The East as that is what many remember it as or at very least, The East 70. As I cannot prove beyond a doubt that it was never called a The East 70mm, I’d be OK seeing that listed as a previous name pending some research from us all but still, I’m fairly certain here.
I have a theatre program from a Columbus Drive-In Theatres. There is no location given except that it says it’s located at 14th Ave and 29th St. Program was printed by The Anchor Litho Company in Tampa, FL and I acquired this in a lot of many programs from different Florida drive-ins and hardtops which would make this listing the likely location. According to CT, there was only one other Columbus Drive-In which was located all the way in Columbus, NE at 3564 23rd St.
Obviously, the 14th Ave & 29th St doesn’t match the Fort Benning Road address either.
Does anyone know if this location on this program is for this theatre? Did the address change? If not, does anyone know where this particular Columbus is?
Film Daily Yearbook of 1951 lists as having 838 seats but also lists it as being on Kurby St. I wonder if this was a typo in the yearbook (quite possible) or a different location? Does anyone know?
“Olympic Request Theatre” needs to be added to the list of previous names. Very odd name, I know, but I posted a couple picture of some old programs from this theatre when it had that name for reference.
By the way, does anyone know the story of how it got that particular name?
No problem, Nick and thanks for sharing your knowledge!! It’s truly wonderful how we can all come together on here with our own historical knowledge, artifacts, photos, trivia,etc and piece it all together in a permanent,public place for posterity. I’ve always worried about what will happen when the handful of people who know a particular bit of theatre history pass away and that info is forever lost-one of the many reasons I heavily promote this site. I know many things about the theatres here in Colorado that I learned from the old timers, most of whom are now deceased and with many of the stories/facts they shared with me, I’m the last to know so I’m trying to get as much of what I know recorded as possible.
So are you saying that E. 7th and Broadway is or was one in the same street? And the program I posted is the exact same location as this listing?
As a perminent footnote here for all who see the Auto Park side of the program pictured or any picture that seems out of place for any of the theatres listed on CT that I have posted and are (quite understandably) confused, please see the picture description as I always explain why it’s there.
Nick, if you go into the photos tab, you will see the reverse side of the Auto Park program that you are referring which has the 40th Street program. As of this writing, there are only these two photos in there so it shouldn’t be difficult to find. This particular program had printing on both sides-one side for the 40th Street and the other for the Auto Park. I intentionally included them both for posterity as I wanted any interested parties to be able to examine this as though they had it in their hands as well as to show that at the time this was printed, these theatres likely shared management/ownership.
I’d like to note that on several printed references I’ve seen regarding this theatre (primarily issues of The Film Daily Yearbook) and a verbal reference by a local longtime theatre operator/theatre buff, it’s been printed as/referred to as “# 47 Drive-In” (key difference being the missing “#”).
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I chose to add “Castle Rock Drive-In Theatre” and “Castle Rock Cinema” to the list of previous names for the sole reason that I own 4-5 Reed Drive-In Speakers of various vintages from Castle Rock and while a couple say “47”, with one being spelled out as "Fourty-Seven”, there is at least one that says “Castle Rock Cinema” and at at least one that says “Castle Rock DI Theatre”. With that said, these engraved speakers are the only references to these names I have ever seen or heard. Since whoever ordered the speakers would have dictated what was engraved in them, I feel confident that these were legitimate names (although I have seen one case of a simple typo on the Reed Speakers-see the pictures I posted of the speakers I have for the Kar-Vue Drive-In-Springfield,CO-where they spelled the city as “Springflied”) and I also have a gut feeling that The #47 was the only Drive-In Castle Rock ever had which would indicate that these were former names of The #47 but I’d love it if someone else here could confirm this.
This seems to be one of the most illusive drive-ins I’ve ever researched in Colorado, with my research yeilding almost zero information so I’d love to know anything that someone might be able to contribute on this. The biggest thing I’d like to learn would be the ADDRESS as I haven’t been able to come up with anything that even gives a general location of the theatre.
Oh, and not to nitpick but while this was indeed a part of Wolfberg Theatres (since they owned Compass), Compass Drive-In Theares was Wolfberg’s drive-in circuit so I feel it would be pertinent to add that along with Wolf berg to the previous operators and the description. I realize that most of us know things like this but there are many, many people who don’t know the business who use this site for a countless number of research activities.
Was once part of the Highland Theatres chain. Should be added to the list of previous operators.
Was once part of the Highland Theatres chain. Should be added to the list of previous operators.
Was once part of the Highland Theatres chain. Should be added to the list of previous operators.
Was once part of the Highland Theatres chain. Should be added to the list of previous operators.
Was once part of the Highland Theatres chain. Should be added to the list of previous operators.
Was part of the Compass Drive-In Theatres/Wolfberg Theatres chain. Should be added to previous operators.
October 1987 calendar
January 1986 calendar
General view of Paonia calendar
Capitol calendar
Flagler calendar
Wow-maybe I’m missing something, maybe the extremely negative (albeit, ancient) comments are directed at a different theatre someone had in mind or maybe the author(s) of these comments have some underlying agenda against this theatre and/or its management/owner because after doing a whopping 5 minutes of Google research, I have determined with 100% certainty that this theatre is not only a bona-fide movie theatre but an extremely unique one at that. I’ve never been to this theatre (or city, or state for that matter) and stumbled upon this listing purely by accident however the said comments intrigued me enough to take a closer look. There is a screen (no TVs in sight), a professionally decorated auditorium (albeit tables instead of fixed seating which makes perfect sense, given the venue), it’s been around for well over 30 years, had/has 35mm projection,went through the same struggle as all the rest regarding digital conversion, etc. Assuming that the negative author isn’t thinking of someplace else and/or doesn’t have an underlying agenda against this place, it does bring up a very interesting question: what is a movie theatre? What is a cinema treasure? To me, and I’d imagine most of us, it’s a venue that shows motion pictures to the public for entertainment (and sometimes, education/enlightenment) while respecting copyright laws. Period. It’s a beloved place (with or without walls) where people gather together to watch movies, regardless of the quality of the location, it’s facilities, staff, showmanship, etc. Not every theatre is The Radio City Music Hall or Bengies Drive-In. Of course, any who know me personally or have kept track of my photo uploads, theatre uploads and comments can easily attest to the fact that while I cherish the undeniable majesty of the great movie palace and find its demise despicable, nothing fascinates me quite like that little 120 seat movie house in population 200 West Virginia that only lasted from 1935-1950 or that haphazardly built and operated 200 car drive-in built in 1975 in the worst part of Chicago that only lasted long enough for the land to gain enough value for development.
My taste, of course, is mine alone, and not something I expect or demand anyone else to share but my definition of a theatre, a cinema treasure and the respect I demand for all of them is what’s correct and something that anyone & everyone who claims a love for theatres should share.
While I usually don’t post photos that are not my own or of my own artifacts (unless it is a particularly rare photo of a particularly rare theatre that would not be represented otherwise), least of all, one that is still operating, I am going to post a couple restriction-free ones I snagged off Google simply to clear this theatre’s name. I will also try to post the links to a few articles about it in a future comment.
Something appears to be wrong with this listing-if you search Trimble, TN on the site, the town comes up but says that there are no theatres listed. If you search for Sondra Theatre, you get the same result. The only way I personally can get to this listing is by Googling it. Any idea what’s going on?
Was part of the Wolfberg Theatres/Compass Drive-In Theatres chain.
The 5100 Wadsworth address that was on the duplicate listing for this theatre that was recently remove is, I believe, much more likely the correct/closer to correct address than the 5050 that is listed here now. The listings for this theatre on Cinematour and drive-ins.com also have 5100 as the address. One long time union operator in the area who worked several shifts here says that one of the exit/entrance ramps to I-70 from Wadsworth sits on part of the old theatre site. I’m not presently able to find an address on any of my artifacts, documents or ephemera or online that provides and address for the theatre. Does anyone have access to a source to verify the address?
Also, there was a really cool old arial veiw of the theatre that was on the duplicate listing but unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it was moved over here. Is it stil available that someone can repost it?
Last but not least, this was an old Wolberg Theatres/Compass Drive-In Theatres and the description/ previous operators part of this listing should be updated to reflect this.
I spoke with Darold Albertson, the Midway’s current owner, the other day and he confirmed the theatre closed around 2013 due mainly to lack of funds to make the digital conversion as well as some attendance issues. The theatre is, however, for sale and he believe he will be finalizing the sale to a group that formed to reopen the theatre for live events and/or movies. Prior to that the theatre has been running regularly; as with most businesses, organizations and even local government agencies in that part of the state, the Midway never had any web presence. No website,social media pages, online movie times or even a showtime recording on the phone which is why it “looked closed”.
So sadly, for now, status should be changed to CLOSED although we’ll have to keep an eye on it and change it again once the group gets it running once again!
The address for this theatre was 12600 East Colfax Avenue Aurora,CO 80011. There is a duplicate listing for this theatre listed as The East, which I have recommended be removed and combined with this page as they’re one in the same. Additionally, no one around here,including longtime Union projectionists and others in the theatre business locally, ever knew this theatre to be called the “70mm” East-just the East 70 or more commonly, the East. While there were indeed intentions of and even some preparations in the booth for showing 70mm, this theatre never did. The only drive-in theatre in the Denver metro area (and most likely the entire state of Colorado) to run 70mm was The North Star.
The theatre name listed really should be changed to just The East as that is what many remember it as or at very least, The East 70. As I cannot prove beyond a doubt that it was never called a The East 70mm, I’d be OK seeing that listed as a previous name pending some research from us all but still, I’m fairly certain here.
Was once part of Wolfberg Theatres chain-this should be added to the previous operators.
I have a theatre program from a Columbus Drive-In Theatres. There is no location given except that it says it’s located at 14th Ave and 29th St. Program was printed by The Anchor Litho Company in Tampa, FL and I acquired this in a lot of many programs from different Florida drive-ins and hardtops which would make this listing the likely location. According to CT, there was only one other Columbus Drive-In which was located all the way in Columbus, NE at 3564 23rd St.
Obviously, the 14th Ave & 29th St doesn’t match the Fort Benning Road address either.
Does anyone know if this location on this program is for this theatre? Did the address change? If not, does anyone know where this particular Columbus is?
Thanks!
Film Daily Yearbook of 1951 lists as having 838 seats but also lists it as being on Kurby St. I wonder if this was a typo in the yearbook (quite possible) or a different location? Does anyone know?
“Olympic Request Theatre” needs to be added to the list of previous names. Very odd name, I know, but I posted a couple picture of some old programs from this theatre when it had that name for reference. By the way, does anyone know the story of how it got that particular name?
No problem, Nick and thanks for sharing your knowledge!! It’s truly wonderful how we can all come together on here with our own historical knowledge, artifacts, photos, trivia,etc and piece it all together in a permanent,public place for posterity. I’ve always worried about what will happen when the handful of people who know a particular bit of theatre history pass away and that info is forever lost-one of the many reasons I heavily promote this site. I know many things about the theatres here in Colorado that I learned from the old timers, most of whom are now deceased and with many of the stories/facts they shared with me, I’m the last to know so I’m trying to get as much of what I know recorded as possible.
So are you saying that E. 7th and Broadway is or was one in the same street? And the program I posted is the exact same location as this listing?
As a perminent footnote here for all who see the Auto Park side of the program pictured or any picture that seems out of place for any of the theatres listed on CT that I have posted and are (quite understandably) confused, please see the picture description as I always explain why it’s there.
Nick, if you go into the photos tab, you will see the reverse side of the Auto Park program that you are referring which has the 40th Street program. As of this writing, there are only these two photos in there so it shouldn’t be difficult to find. This particular program had printing on both sides-one side for the 40th Street and the other for the Auto Park. I intentionally included them both for posterity as I wanted any interested parties to be able to examine this as though they had it in their hands as well as to show that at the time this was printed, these theatres likely shared management/ownership.
I’d like to note that on several printed references I’ve seen regarding this theatre (primarily issues of The Film Daily Yearbook) and a verbal reference by a local longtime theatre operator/theatre buff, it’s been printed as/referred to as “# 47 Drive-In” (key difference being the missing “#”).
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I chose to add “Castle Rock Drive-In Theatre” and “Castle Rock Cinema” to the list of previous names for the sole reason that I own 4-5 Reed Drive-In Speakers of various vintages from Castle Rock and while a couple say “47”, with one being spelled out as "Fourty-Seven”, there is at least one that says “Castle Rock Cinema” and at at least one that says “Castle Rock DI Theatre”. With that said, these engraved speakers are the only references to these names I have ever seen or heard. Since whoever ordered the speakers would have dictated what was engraved in them, I feel confident that these were legitimate names (although I have seen one case of a simple typo on the Reed Speakers-see the pictures I posted of the speakers I have for the Kar-Vue Drive-In-Springfield,CO-where they spelled the city as “Springflied”) and I also have a gut feeling that The #47 was the only Drive-In Castle Rock ever had which would indicate that these were former names of The #47 but I’d love it if someone else here could confirm this.
This seems to be one of the most illusive drive-ins I’ve ever researched in Colorado, with my research yeilding almost zero information so I’d love to know anything that someone might be able to contribute on this. The biggest thing I’d like to learn would be the ADDRESS as I haven’t been able to come up with anything that even gives a general location of the theatre.
Oh, and not to nitpick but while this was indeed a part of Wolfberg Theatres (since they owned Compass), Compass Drive-In Theares was Wolfberg’s drive-in circuit so I feel it would be pertinent to add that along with Wolf berg to the previous operators and the description. I realize that most of us know things like this but there are many, many people who don’t know the business who use this site for a countless number of research activities.