Swap Shop Drive-In
3291 W. Sunrise Boulevard,
Lauderhill,
FL
33311
3291 W. Sunrise Boulevard,
Lauderhill,
FL
33311
7 people
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The earliest information I can find about the original Sunrise Drive-In dates back as early as 1956. It was already in operation by the following year judging by aerial views.
0 for 3 now it is complete 😫😫🤮
First Tampa then Lake Worth now Lauderhill! No notice… nothing! Preston has got to be turning over in his grave! Such a sad state of affairs! 😳👿😤😡
Nooooo I hate to hear this. It was such a popular drive in
The Fort Lauderdale Drive In Movie Theatre is currently undergoing renovations.
This this stop showing movies for renovations? Showtimes are not showing anywhere.
Another correction: THIS along with the elementary school next to it is in Lauderhill NOT Fort Lauderdale! Same zip code. Please update.
Correction: Thanks to several hurricanes, the growing vagrant population, vandalism, the ever expanding flea market and the aforementioned fire in April 2022, THIS DRIVE-IN NOW HAS 8 SCREENS!
Please update.
WPLG Just Reported Two Days Ago On April 4, 2022 That Screen #5 Was Badly Damaged By A Fire, Along With The Storage Facility Which Was Heavily Destroyed.
Perhaps “A. W. Cook” passed away soon after he helped purchase the Sunrise and rename it the Thunderbird. From the Theatres For Sale column in the classifieds in the April 17, 1964 issue of Boxoffice: “Large Florida Drive-Ins: Ft. Lauderdale, 700 cars; … Death of partner forces sale. … Call Henn Thunderbird Drive-In, (phone number), Ft. Lauderdale, nights.”
Bailey Theatres, which operated the Sunrise Drive-In also owned several other locations in the south. The other locations appear to all be “negro theatres”, as they were then known. I suspect that may be the reason for the lack of mainstream advertising for the Sunrise. The change to Thunderbird may have been a change in policy or owner.
I am pretty sure also that this was the Sunrise, but I haven’t found solid proof.
Looks like this drive-in may have started its life even earlier as the Sunrise. I ran across this note in Motion Picture Exhibitor, Dec. 18, 1963: “A. W. Cook and Preston Henn have taken over the Sunrise Drive-In, Fort Lauderdale, and have renamed it the Thunderbird.”
There’s a Sunrise listed for Fort Lauderdale in the 1957-76(!) editions of Motion Picture Almanac. It had a capacity of 500 and was owned by Bailey Theatre. When the MPA finally rebooted its drive-in list in 1977, the Sunrise was gone, replaced by the Thunderbird Twin, owned by P.B. Henn.
There was a fire on 24/1/2007, next door in auto parts yard. Two of the screens were evacuted after the firefighters noticed a 250 pound propane tank nearby.
Rivest266, maybe they were screening the “The Invisible man”?
Opened with “Irma La Douce” and “The Manchurian Candidate”.
Sketchy neighborhood after dark, some screen are tiny, another is just a whitewashed wall of the indoor portion of the swap shop. I used to go often when I lived down in Florida. Only screens 1 and 2 are legitimately movie worthy so keep an eye on the Marque. Each day and especially on weekends it is the best Flea Market I have ever been to. The open air fruit and vegetable bazaar is just like a tour of the globe, people and produce from all over the world. Big thumbs up.
Maybe it was very dusty? Maybe a printing error?
They must had been showing a dirty movie.
Found on Newspapers.com
Is the Thunderbird Mini building still there and used for anything? I haven’t heard of a members only theatre before!
An indoor theatre, called the Thunderbird Mini opened behind the refreshment center on September 4th, 1970 with “I am Curious (Yellow)”. On January 1st, 1971 it became a “members only” theatre closing in 1972. The outdoor theatre had shown adult movies until at least 1973. Three ads in the photo section.
This opened on November 27th, 1963. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Renamed Swap Shop in 1984
David, the daytime flea market became more popular than the Drive-in and it reminded everyone that they were the same location.
Does anyone know why the drive-in was called Swap Shop?
A lot of the screens are small and non have the capability to show scope unless they have gone digital and that has changed. Scope films used to be off the sides of the screen in the air. I hated it.
You can see an aerial shot of the Swap Shop Drive-in property on Google Earth! I think you can see at least 9 of the drive-in screens in the Google Earth aerial shot!