I had the pleasure of getting the grand tour of the Niles last summer.
As stated, it is a community run theater, open weekends only and staffed by volunteers. The manager is part of the paid staff as well as the projectionist. They have been trying to raise money for a new projector, yet Mother Nature has had other plans. Diverting that money towards keeping the building in good condition, like a new roof. The community support though is outstanding and several service groups have helped in fundraising or donating materials. I was real pleased to see about 75 teenagers coming out of the doors after Snow White had ended. Sorta like a Norman Rockwell moment, a harkening back to carefree days. I’m not sure if they will be able to keep it open if they can’t convert. Keeping my fingers crossed and a hopeful return visit when they do.
I was lucky enough to make 3 stops here for the ‘01 season, July 7, July 20 & Oct. 12. Which was about 3 weeks before they closed. Jeff said he had a good run, but the business had dropped off, the equipment was getting run down. He was a little tired of running the drive-in as well. They sold the property to WinCo Foods which was planning a new store in Yakima. That store was never built, the land remained vacant until around 2009, when Apple Valley Dental built
on the southwest corner of the lot. The rest is still undeveloped including the apartments that were on the north side of the drive-in fields.
I driven past this drive-in on the way to the Blue Fox on Whidbey Island. I’ve only only stopped a few times though, and was ready for another look. It appears the Circus is no longer an ‘active’ storage yard. Most of the boats were in the front part of the field, which is mostly cleared out now. Most of the ones in the back rows looked
to be in bad shape, maybe abandoned. The front & backs gates are locked up, but there are some fence panels that have fallen down, granting access, if you’re brave enough.
Seeing how both Rio pages have the same address, I posted new pics on this page. Information from the Myrtle Creek Cultural & Historical Resource Survey.
‘The Myrtle Theater was constructed in 1917 by the Rice Brothers & Adams Co. The Rices owned the theater business, but hired an operator to man the projector. Both silent movies & “talkies” were shown in the theater. About 1933, the business was to sold to Stearns Gordon. The theater burned in 1945, but the building was not significantly damaged.’
The Myrtle was on the top floor of the Rice building, and had a bowling alley in the basement. After they cleaned up the fire damage, it then became Western Auto. The building was later condemned and is currently vacant. The survey lists the address as 126 Main Street. But an old 2008 construction notice on the front window lists 136 Main St.
The Midway opened in 1952 and closed in 2008, due to problems with the well water. It found new life in the summer of 2011 as a weekend swap meet and concert venue. The screen, snack bar & ticket booth still stand.
I made 2 visits for the 2012 season, still one of my favorite drive-ins.
It is the smallest DI in the state, official capacity is 154 cars based off the speaker poles. The website is: ptwheelinmotormovie.com
I talked to Keith, the manager, back in the spring.
At that time, he believed they would be open in 2013 and maybe even 2014 as well. I fully expect them to not deal with the digital conversion. So, as long as there is film product out there, they can make a go of it. Now that the Robertson Corp. owns the land, they seem to be dragging their feet on the redevelopment.
This drive-in was owned by the same family throughout its run, 1950-2004. But they leased it out at other times. Although there was vandalsim in the snack bar, they left the projectors alone. As noted in the 4th photo link from Chuck1231, the perimeter fence didn’t last very long. Other web searches have neighbors calling it an eysore after it sat vacant for many years afterward.
After many years, I was finally able to put 2 & 2 together to confirm the location of the New Eugene drive-in. I had been told the drive-in field was now the LTD bus yard, but always assumed the entrance was off Glenwood Blvd. After another look at the Google Earth link for the original site on Willamette. It appears the marquee at the corner of Henderson & Franklin is is the last remaining drive-in fixture in the Eugene/Springfield area.
I found a phone listing from the Coos & Curry County directory for Sept. 1961. It lists the Pacific at 424 Fir Ave. which is Hwy. 38 thru the old section of town. One of the locals mentioned to me you could always tell when high tide was because you could hear the kids splashing in the front rows. The earliest news listing I could find so far was from 1948, a Christmas Eve kiddie show. The last big flood in December 1964 closed the theater for good.
Reedsport built a tidewall and relocated a new section of town higher up. Although Old Town is still there, I imagine all those buildings are from 1965.
Thanks hispeed. I spent 3 hours at the Florence library, wasn’t too hard to find the opening & closing dates. The weekly newspaper at the time was the Siuslaw Oar, now Siuslaw Times. There was no staff photographer, so only a few print articles to choose from in ‘53.
It appears there were at least 3 different owners, the Ritters, who owned the Florence/Harbor hardtop. Sometime in the 60’s, Len Swain & Lloyd Claver owned it. They also owned the Reedsport theaters then. Mr. Claver has ties to the Roxy in Coquille in 1940. And finally, Don Hicks.
After 30 years, there is no trace of the drive-in. I hope to make out there in the summer for Return To The Rhody. Scott Hicks has his own theater tech company. Back in 2007, he helped with a final show at the Starlite DI in Roseburg, OR. The drive-in had been closed for ten years, but the booth equipment was still there. Other than installing a 'temp' blower fan, the FILM projectors were in really good shape.
Construction for the Rhody began January 1953. With a planned opening of March 15th, (rather optimistic for the time of year and coastal weather) At the time the drive-in was located north of Florence on Hwy. 101, the entrance was on 15th Street. The lot itself was almost 7 acres. 3 separate exits off 15th, 17th & 18th Streets. The snack bar was painted with Flamingo pink, chartreuse & Waterford green colors & large picture windows on the front. The menu included: hot dogs, popcorn, soda, candy, ice cream plus coffee and hot cocoa. The screen tower measured 60 by 60 feet. The booth was equipped with Motiograph projectors & Microphonic sound.
March 15th came and went and they might have finished construction but it would be a few more weeks until the weather improved to open up for business. The grand opening on April 30th featured Duel at Silver Creek (Audie Murphy) and Tazan's Savage Fury (Lex Baxter) Admission was 60 cents for adults and 20 cents for children. A new program started May 3rd & 4th, Flat Top & Palomino. They expanded to 7 days a week on May 10th.
The closure of the Rhody drive-in came at the end of the 1979 season, when owner Don Hicks was unable to obtain a new long term lease with the city. There was about 7 to 10 thousand dollars needed for repairs and improvements to keep it going. “The town is losing a valuable asset in entertainment. The people would like to have it. I know, but I’m not going to fight it.” Don Hicks
The land later became Miller Park with 2 baseball fields and playground equipment. However, Scott Hicks, Don's son, has started an annual 'Return to the Rhody' night with a free movie in late summer at the park.
The Twin Cinema opened June 15, 1983 with Superman 3
and Blue Thunder. Plans for the theater date back to 1978 with proposed development of new theaters coming to Newberg.
The Starlite opened June 23, 1954 with Beachhead. 1500 car capacity.
The 300 seat indoor theater opened Dec. 25, 1971 with Dr. Zhivago on both screens. Sold to Tom Moyer Luxury Theaters in 1979, then to Act 3. They closed it down Sept. 4, 1997 with one week’s notice. The last film at the indoor was Copland & the drive-in program was Face/Off with My Best Friend’s Wedding.
The Cow Creek Indian Tribe bought it in 1999 with the 20 year deed restriction. Sometime in 2007, the screen tower was deemed ‘structurally unsafe’ and was to be torn down. To their credit, the Tribe put on a Grand Closing on Sept. 26th. with one last showing of Grease. The screen was torn down 3 weeks later on October 17th. The Tribe has leased the buildings & property to UCC for their Construction Technology classes. The snack bar and indoor theater have been converted to classroom & workshop space.
The box office still stands and a speaker graveyard by the back fence.
I had the pleasure of getting the grand tour of the Niles last summer. As stated, it is a community run theater, open weekends only and staffed by volunteers. The manager is part of the paid staff as well as the projectionist. They have been trying to raise money for a new projector, yet Mother Nature has had other plans. Diverting that money towards keeping the building in good condition, like a new roof. The community support though is outstanding and several service groups have helped in fundraising or donating materials. I was real pleased to see about 75 teenagers coming out of the doors after Snow White had ended. Sorta like a Norman Rockwell moment, a harkening back to carefree days. I’m not sure if they will be able to keep it open if they can’t convert. Keeping my fingers crossed and a hopeful return visit when they do.
I was lucky enough to make 3 stops here for the ‘01 season, July 7, July 20 & Oct. 12. Which was about 3 weeks before they closed. Jeff said he had a good run, but the business had dropped off, the equipment was getting run down. He was a little tired of running the drive-in as well. They sold the property to WinCo Foods which was planning a new store in Yakima. That store was never built, the land remained vacant until around 2009, when Apple Valley Dental built on the southwest corner of the lot. The rest is still undeveloped including the apartments that were on the north side of the drive-in fields.
Based off my visit, it doesn’t look demolished to me. They have done a pretty good job on the landscaping though. A great location right on the river.
I driven past this drive-in on the way to the Blue Fox on Whidbey Island. I’ve only only stopped a few times though, and was ready for another look. It appears the Circus is no longer an ‘active’ storage yard. Most of the boats were in the front part of the field, which is mostly cleared out now. Most of the ones in the back rows looked to be in bad shape, maybe abandoned. The front & backs gates are locked up, but there are some fence panels that have fallen down, granting access, if you’re brave enough.
Seeing how both Rio pages have the same address, I posted new pics on this page. Information from the Myrtle Creek Cultural & Historical Resource Survey.
‘The Myrtle Theater was constructed in 1917 by the Rice Brothers & Adams Co. The Rices owned the theater business, but hired an operator to man the projector. Both silent movies & “talkies” were shown in the theater. About 1933, the business was to sold to Stearns Gordon. The theater burned in 1945, but the building was not significantly damaged.’
The Myrtle was on the top floor of the Rice building, and had a bowling alley in the basement. After they cleaned up the fire damage, it then became Western Auto. The building was later condemned and is currently vacant. The survey lists the address as 126 Main Street. But an old 2008 construction notice on the front window lists 136 Main St.
The Midway opened in 1952 and closed in 2008, due to problems with the well water. It found new life in the summer of 2011 as a weekend swap meet and concert venue. The screen, snack bar & ticket booth still stand.
Although there is more renovation work to be done, including relighting the marquee. The Whiteside reopened Sept. 2011 for live events.
I made 2 visits for the 2012 season, still one of my favorite drive-ins. It is the smallest DI in the state, official capacity is 154 cars based off the speaker poles. The website is: ptwheelinmotormovie.com
I talked to Keith, the manager, back in the spring. At that time, he believed they would be open in 2013 and maybe even 2014 as well. I fully expect them to not deal with the digital conversion. So, as long as there is film product out there, they can make a go of it. Now that the Robertson Corp. owns the land, they seem to be dragging their feet on the redevelopment.
This drive-in was owned by the same family throughout its run, 1950-2004. But they leased it out at other times. Although there was vandalsim in the snack bar, they left the projectors alone. As noted in the 4th photo link from Chuck1231, the perimeter fence didn’t last very long. Other web searches have neighbors calling it an eysore after it sat vacant for many years afterward.
After many years, I was finally able to put 2 & 2 together to confirm the location of the New Eugene drive-in. I had been told the drive-in field was now the LTD bus yard, but always assumed the entrance was off Glenwood Blvd. After another look at the Google Earth link for the original site on Willamette. It appears the marquee at the corner of Henderson & Franklin is is the last remaining drive-in fixture in the Eugene/Springfield area.
The Holly had a re-lighting ceremony April 21st. They have come along way on the exterior, looks fantastic.
Interesting that the website is down, but the phone message is current. Running first run films on a 2-day schedule.
I found a phone listing from the Coos & Curry County directory for Sept. 1961. It lists the Pacific at 424 Fir Ave. which is Hwy. 38 thru the old section of town. One of the locals mentioned to me you could always tell when high tide was because you could hear the kids splashing in the front rows. The earliest news listing I could find so far was from 1948, a Christmas Eve kiddie show. The last big flood in December 1964 closed the theater for good. Reedsport built a tidewall and relocated a new section of town higher up. Although Old Town is still there, I imagine all those buildings are from 1965.
Thanks hispeed. I spent 3 hours at the Florence library, wasn’t too hard to find the opening & closing dates. The weekly newspaper at the time was the Siuslaw Oar, now Siuslaw Times. There was no staff photographer, so only a few print articles to choose from in ‘53. It appears there were at least 3 different owners, the Ritters, who owned the Florence/Harbor hardtop. Sometime in the 60’s, Len Swain & Lloyd Claver owned it. They also owned the Reedsport theaters then. Mr. Claver has ties to the Roxy in Coquille in 1940. And finally, Don Hicks.
Construction for the Rhody began January 1953. With a planned opening of March 15th, (rather optimistic for the time of year and coastal weather) At the time the drive-in was located north of Florence on Hwy. 101, the entrance was on 15th Street. The lot itself was almost 7 acres. 3 separate exits off 15th, 17th & 18th Streets. The snack bar was painted with Flamingo pink, chartreuse & Waterford green colors & large picture windows on the front. The menu included: hot dogs, popcorn, soda, candy, ice cream plus coffee and hot cocoa. The screen tower measured 60 by 60 feet. The booth was equipped with Motiograph projectors & Microphonic sound.
The closure of the Rhody drive-in came at the end of the 1979 season, when owner Don Hicks was unable to obtain a new long term lease with the city. There was about 7 to 10 thousand dollars needed for repairs and improvements to keep it going. “The town is losing a valuable asset in entertainment. The people would like to have it. I know, but I’m not going to fight it.” Don Hicks
The Twin Cinema opened June 15, 1983 with Superman 3 and Blue Thunder. Plans for the theater date back to 1978 with proposed development of new theaters coming to Newberg.
The Starlite opened June 23, 1954 with Beachhead. 1500 car capacity. The 300 seat indoor theater opened Dec. 25, 1971 with Dr. Zhivago on both screens. Sold to Tom Moyer Luxury Theaters in 1979, then to Act 3. They closed it down Sept. 4, 1997 with one week’s notice. The last film at the indoor was Copland & the drive-in program was Face/Off with My Best Friend’s Wedding.
The Cow Creek Indian Tribe bought it in 1999 with the 20 year deed restriction. Sometime in 2007, the screen tower was deemed ‘structurally unsafe’ and was to be torn down. To their credit, the Tribe put on a Grand Closing on Sept. 26th. with one last showing of Grease. The screen was torn down 3 weeks later on October 17th. The Tribe has leased the buildings & property to UCC for their Construction Technology classes. The snack bar and indoor theater have been converted to classroom & workshop space. The box office still stands and a speaker graveyard by the back fence.